


Pick Me Up on Your Way Down

by Eiichi



Series: College AU Symbrock [1]
Category: Venom (Comics), Venom (Movie 2018)
Genre: Aftercare, Alternate Universe - College/University, Anal Sex, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bottom Eddie Brock, College, Comfort, Developing Relationship, Enemies to Friends, First Time, Healing, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Oral Sex, Other, Praise Kink, Protective Venom Symbiote (Marvel), References to Depression, Slow Burn, Suicidal Thoughts, Suicide Attempt, Venom Symbiote Takes Care of Eddie Brock
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-11
Updated: 2019-01-20
Packaged: 2019-08-22 01:12:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 25,900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16587893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eiichi/pseuds/Eiichi
Summary: If there was one thing for sure, it was the fact, that Eddie Brock hated college.__________Basically a College AU where Eddie and Venom find each other way sooner. Eddie suffers from depression, is bullied and about to make the mistake of his life. Venom is running from his prison and finds the love of his life.Will they manage to stay together and win against college bullies and mad scientists, while adjusting to each others needs and wants?Will they be able to survive against all odds?__________Hopefully a good combination of hurt and comfort/drama and fluff~ Enjoy*not as bad as the Tags might imply, just put them there in case*





	1. One

If there was one thing for sure, it was the fact, that Eddie Brock hated college.

It wasn’t an easy time for anybody, especially if you weren’t a cheerleader or maybe the captain of the football team or something. Eddie was neither, a nobody, and therefore essentially fucked. Unfortunately, no matter how good he was at hiding behind his chosen major, an article about the football team put him on none other than Flash Thompson’s radar.

Flash was, what every boy in Eddie’s school wanted to be. He was the captain and star-quarterback of the football team, made straight A’s, was mostly charming and had the looks to match.

Plus, a very bad temper.

 

Another hit sent Eddie right to the dirty ground, he could taste iron on his tongue. Eddie tried to push himself back up and spit blood on the ground, as he heard Flash and his stupid cronies laugh.

“Now, now Eddie! Look at you! Right where you belong.” The idiot laughed and pushed Eddie back into the dirt with a foot between his shoulder blades.

There was not much, the young journalist could do about these the daily attacks. No one would listen to him and even if someone were to believe him… Flash was still the pride of the school. No way that he would ever get punished!

Eddie was being bullied by Flash for over a year now and he hit a point, where he could not take it any longer.

This evening had started out so beautifully.

 

_He had been having a great time at this party, the best night he could remember since the report on the football team! Annie, the girl he had a serious crush on, had talked to him for hours. It had been just a little too good to be true and unfortunately, his instincts proven to be correct._

_He had just wanted to take a quick breath of fresh air, after the student dorm had been filled to the maximum with all those drunk bodies flailing to the latest EDM tracks. He had excused himself and while Annie went back to her group of friends, he slipped outside and walked a bit without having a certain goal or direction. The dorm was a bit removed from the main campus, near the forest and he enjoyed the peace._

_It was a feeling he really enjoyed, such a sweet change, after being inside that stuffy, smoky place for over an hour. Eddie felt the chill air touching his sweaty skin and sucked in a deep breath. Sure, he enjoyed those student parties, but the best feeling was, stepping outside, from a too loud and too tight place into the quiet safe night._

_Except this night was anything but safe._

 

Before he realized what was happening, two of Flash’s friends had grabbed him by the shoulders and dragged him deeper into the forest. The combination of exhaustion booze kept Eddie from putting up much of a struggle. He ended up completely at Flash’s mercy, which was not in his favour today. If Eddie didn’t know better, he might have thought, the jock was actually trying to kill him.

Here he was now, lying face down into the rotten leaves and dirt, while Flash and his buddies laughed their asses off. Fuck… His nose was broken and another kick to his side caused a loud crack in his rips. The way his lungs made that nasty sound, when he tried to breathe finally made his tormentors stop in their tracks.

“Wait, Flash, did… you hear that?”, one of the idiots warned and Eddie could only guess, what happened next, before the Quarterback knelt next to Eddies head.

He grabbed a handful of Eddie’s hair and pulled him up. “Listen closely, _Eddie_. We’re not finished with you. Alright?? Not by a long shot. You’ll never escape me. I am having way too much fun with you, buddy. But… let’s call it a day, huh? Yeah. You are lucky, I’m feeling so generous and kind-hearted right now.” With that he pushed Eddie’s face back into the dirt and let out an ugly laugh, before the group stomped off.

 

Tears ran down Eddie’s face and his breath rattled in his lungs as his vision swam.  He could barely breathe, move much less. The pain and the constant blur in his view made him sick. Why him? Why the fuck couldn’t Flash just leave him alone? It was not like, he’d done anything to provoke these guys. Like ever? The report he had written for the student papers had not even been his idea!

Slowly, Eddie felt his consciousness begin to slip away. Then a strange awareness hit him like a heavy blow of Flash’s fist… He was going to die here. It was a cold evening; the temperatures would only continue to fall overnight, and he was barely able to breathe. He would die outside here face down in the dirt.

What shocked him the most was… that he could not care less. Instead he felt his chest swell with something like relief. Finally, all this shit would be over. The pain, the hate, all his insecurities. His life had been full of those, starting with when his mother had died when she gave birth to him. His father never told him so, but Eddie just knew, he blamed him for it. No matter how hard he had tried, he was never good enough and long ago, he came to the conclusion, that he would never be.

 

Eddie had thought about his own death so many times… he would embrace it gladly now.

 

Just before everything went dark, he thought he heard footsteps coming closer, soft and carefully. He opened his eyes with what little strength there still was in him, as he thought he saw a huge dog - or was it a wolf? - sniffling him, before pressing its paw to the top of his hand.

It did not make any sense, he could not understand, the last thing Eddie saw was the wolf’s the pitch-black eyes and something equally black leaving its paw and sinking right into Eddie’s skin.

Then, suddenly his world was black and silent.

 

 

 

**Eddie...**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for readiny my first try of a fanfiction <3
> 
> If you want to get in touch with me other than Ao3 please feel free to write me 
> 
> Twitter: @_Thunderdaddy  
> Instagram: EiichiCosplay


	2. Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for lots of cursing and suicidal attempt in this chapter.
> 
>  
> 
> //Eddie's thoughts//  
>  **Venom's speech in their mind**  
>  **"Venom's speech aloud"**

The first thing, Eddie noticed was the throbbing pain right behind his eyes. Fuck… what happened? He could barely move, as he slowly woke up. He raised his left hand to his forehead and rubbed the back of his nose between his thumb and finger to will his headache away.

“Ugh… what the…” He growled lowly, before opening his eyes.

He was in his room at the student dorm. Confused he blinked a few times, before getting up in a sitting position. It took him a few seconds to remember, what had happened yesterday. The party, Flash and his idiot buddies, the forest… and the wolf… No! He must have imagined that, there was no other way. He did probably just drink too much and everything after leaving the party had been a fucking nightmare! A nightmare indeed.

 

Eddie moved back into a lying position and looked up into the ceiling. It was true however, Flash would never leave him alone again. There was no way, he would ever escape him. The emptiness in his heart ached, like a knife in his body and the only thing he could think about was lying here and hoping, he could just die, painless and fast. Never face anything anymore. He had been aware of his unhealthy state of mind for a long time now and only went to a doctor, after Annie had forced him to. The pills he took usually helped to keep the demons away, but today he could not even manage to collect the strength, to stand up and take his medication.

It had been months, since the last time, an episode was this bad. But Eddie could not bring himself to care. Maybe… maybe it was time. Whatever happened after the party, if it had been a nightmare or happened actually… it made him realise, that he was not needed. No one would ever miss him. Maybe this was the only way for him to make repentance for killing his mother. Maybe then his father could finally forgive him.

 

Slowly, like in a trance, he got up and walked to his desk. He had stolen his father's gun a few years ago, when he actually feared for his life, thought his father might use it against him, after a huge fight. Soon after he had moved out. Never had he guessed, he would ever need to use it. He pulled the drawer open and took out the gun, he had stored there so long ago. Was it strange, that he did not feel any fear? Eddie briefly thought about, if he should maybe go to the bathroom, so the mess would not be too big, but it was not like it made a difference.

He sat down on the bed and hesitated. Should he say goodbye to anyone? Maybe Annie, she deserved to know, that the friendship he shared with her ever since they met in their kindergarten was the most important, he ever had. No. Don’t think about Annie. This is the best solution, it will be so much easier for her as well, when she does not always have to make excuses, why she even talks to such a loser.

Eddie closed his eyes and pressed the gun against the underside of his chin, clicked the safety catch and took a deep, last breath. His trigger finger tensed and-

Right the second, where he pulled the trigger, his hand moved on its own. Shocked he looked at the hole in the wall next to his window. “What the…” He looked down at his hand, confused. Why did it feel like it had moved on its own? He was probably lucky, most of the other students were in class or still asleep with a hangover right now, otherwise someone would have heard the shot. Before he could decide what to do, he suddenly felt something creeping up his neck and cheek. It was cold and warm at the same time and he could not put a finger on why it felt so strange.

He lifted his hand and touched it carefully and it felt like… some kind of slime. Not sticky or wet, but somehow... alien. This was not his skin! What else…

The sudden rush of adrenaline made him jump up and run into the bathroom. A look in the mirror showed some kind of black goo, that covered his skin, but after he blinked it was suddenly gone. Was he imagining things? Was he… dead already and this was some kind of hell he was trapped in now?

 

**No hell, Eddie…**

 

“Who...?” Alarmed Eddie looked up in the mirror again and what met him there was not his face, but a black monster. White milky eyes looked back at him and a huge grin with sharp teeth. He hesitated a second, before he lifted his hand at his chin, a black clawed hand mimicking the movement in the mirror, but the skin under his fingertips felt normal again. That was it. He was insane, nuts, out of his mind. Eventually he finally lost it.

“What the fuck!”

He stomped out of the bathroom, his heart rate racing up in shock and horror. His eyes searched the gun, he had dropped onto the pillow, but as he wanted to take it again, his hand stopped in the middle of the movement. Suddenly the same black goo, he saw earlier, spread from his shoulder over his arm, covered it until it reached his elbow and grew out of it, until it formed something like a head.

  **“Eddie.”**

 It was the same face, that he had seen in the mirror before. Huge white eyes, a big toothy grin and the teeth sharp like knives. Eddie stumbled back, until his legs hit the desk chair, but from there he could only sit down on it and stare at the face with wide eyes. It did not move, other than somehow hovering over his still stretched out arm and looking at him with misty white eyes.

“What… who… are you?”, he asked, as if to test whatever he just saw in front of him. His breath was quicker than normal and his heart still raced, but other than that it surprised himself, how calm he held himself. Some strange black monster face was growing out of him and he was only sitting there? Staring and waiting for the goo to respond?

 **“We are Venom.”** It finally answered, looking at him and somehow it looked… curious? If that wide grin could show any emotion.

The deep growl raised again, as the beast opened its gaping maw. **“You are scared, Eddie. We can feel your fear. Why… are you not running?”**

“Venom”, he mouthed and took a deep breath. It was a valid question. But…

 

“Tell me, Venom... Where would I run? You… are basically coming out of my own arm.” He mumbled, poked the black substance on his upper arm and let out a humourless laugh.  “Why would I be scared of another imaginary demon in my head?” He groaned and stood up, shook his arm a bit. The movement of the black goo wobbling around like a blob nearly made him laugh.

**Imaginary? We are not, Eddie. We are real. You have no reason to fear us, Eddie! We won’t hurt you.**

“Hurt me? Hah, I’m not scared of you hurting me! If you would want me dead, you could have let me do it on my own. I am fucking scared, because there is some black stuff coming out of my arm and talking to me! I am scared because I am going nuts!” He laughed hysterically and tried to understand, what was happening here. Not imaginary? Why was the voice only in his head then, this time??

**Because we are one. We chose you. You are mine now and we belong together, Eddie.**

Shaking he watched, as the black goo sank back into his skin and pulled up his sleeve to see, that it was gone completely. How was that even possible? “Hey!! Where are you now?? Venom??”

**We are here. Always here, we won’t ever be alone again.**

A warm feeling spread in his chest and Eddie was not able to stand still any longer. He paced in the small room, restless, like a tiger in a too small cage. “Oh… Okay let’s say, this is happening. This is real. What the fuck? I mean, how is that possible? Where are you- wait. The wolf… I didn’t…”

**Imagine the wolf? No, that was us. We needed a host to escape the research facility. We used that animal to find a better host.**

“Better host? You should have gone after Flash, I am nothing! I am… weak, I am- wait… Flash, he… He broke my ribs! I could feel them breaking, why am I even able to move?”

**We took care of that. We repaired your fragile bones, Eddie. And the other wounds. Don’t worry, we protect you!**

Eddie settled on the bed and suddenly felt a calm wave wash over him. It felt unnatural, like someone forcing him to relax, but the same time it felt like the most natural thing in the world. “O-okay… Okay. But what do you want? Why… me?”

 

Before he could get an answer, there was a knock on the door. Oh shit, someone probably heard the shot! He jumped up and wanted to hide the gun, but again he could not reach for it. “Come on! They can’t see it! If you don’t trust me with it, then please hide it yourself! We take care of it later”, he pledged, and a thin black tendril shot out of the back of his hand and stuffed the gun under the pillow. He pulled one of the curtains in front of the hole and as it knocked a second time, he yelled a short ‘Yes’ in the direction.

He took a deep breath and opened the door, only to be greeted by two thin arms throwing around his neck. “Oh Eddie!!” Annie hugged him way tighter, than he would have liked, but Eddie was no one to complain! “Annie! G’morning, what are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be in morning class?”

“So should you! You didn’t come back yesterday, and I thought, you went to bed early. But Dan told me that Flash and his stupid goons followed you! Eddie, I was so scared, let me look at you!”

She softly pushed him back into the room and pulled at his shoulder, to turn him around, looked at him closely. “Did they hurt you? Do you want me to ask Dan to check you?” Eddie groaned. Dan was Annie’s boyfriend and strangely enough he kinda liked that guy. Dan was always supportive about his articles and the first time he had found out, Annie knew Eddie, he literally had asked him for a selfie and an autograph! It was equally sweet as it was strange to Eddie.

“I am fine, Annie! Besides, Dan is not a doctor, he is still studying.”, he grumbled. Annie smiled softly, but the worry did not leave her eyes yet.

**Hungry, Eddie…**

Along with the whisper in his mind, his stomach gave a low growl. “Uh, sorry Annie. I just… I just got up and wanted to have a shower and then grab some breakfast. You should go to your classes!” Annie could not really answer more than a surprised “Oh! O-okay!”, before he pushed her out.

He stared at the closed door and sighted. “Well… you are hungry. What exactly do you eat?”, he asked and walked back to the bed and lifted the pillow. He still needed to hide the gun better. Before he could take it, a black tendril clasped it and lifted it into the air.

**Heads, Eddie. We could eat that Flash.**

“No! Are you crazy? We cannot eat anybody.” Eddie watched Venom putting the gun back into the drawer and closing it, before he took a step into the bathroom. No way he could shower, when he was being watched by an- what was Venom?

**We are, what humans call a Symbiote.**

Not any wiser by that description Eddie took off his shirt and quickly washed himself over the sink, before he used a soft towel to dry himself. He chose his most inconspicuous grey hoodie and a pair of black jeans. //You can hear me like that, right?//

**Yes, Eddie. We can hear you.**

“Creepy”, he mumbled and grabbed a pair of earphones, before leaving. If he would accidently answer his imaginary goo-friend aloud, he would at least not look like some idiot talking to himself!

**Not imaginary!**

He put one earpiece in and shouldered his backpack, before he left his room to have some breakfast before his afternoon-classes. Hopefully he could convince his not imaginary goo-friend into some scrambled eggs and chocolate pancakes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now finally introducing Venom properly. I hope you liked this chapter and I am greatful for every response~
> 
> If you would like to share your ideas for the AU, please let me know them, I am always super curious about what you guys want, as I am uploading it for you~


	3. Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> //Eddie's thoughts//  
>  **Venom's speech in their mind**  
>  **"Venom's speech aloud"**  
> 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>   
>  Eddie: Wait, a college AU with actual classes? Pls don't make me!  
>  **Venom: Let's see how long he can keep this up**  
> 

"Okay, first of all, we have to agree on some rules, if we want this to work out, buddy. You can not simply come out in the middle of the cafeteria and steal from other people’s plates!”

Eddie was going crazy. Even if this… goo-thing was not imaginary, he would eventually go crazy. This was not how he had planned to spend the day. Eddie stopped in his tracks and felt his heart drop. No… this was not how he had planned to spend the day at all. He should not even be here anymore. But he was and now he had to make the best out of it. One thing was for sure: he was in for an enormous headache, if this went on.

**But we were hungry! You did not take the sausages!**

“Yes, and who complained, they were disgusting, because it was dead meat? What if someone would have seen you? They all already think I am strange...”

**We can always eat them!**

“No. Eating people is out of question.” Eddie sighted deeply and continued on his way to the campus park. He did not have morning classes and wanted to spend some time writing his latest article, before lunchtime. His usual spot at the big oak tree was occupied, so he settled on one of the benches near the small fountain and unpacked his notebook.

Curiosity, that was clearly not his own, spiked up in his mind. He stopped and concentrated on this sensation. “Is this you?”, he asked confused and however Venom reacted, it felt like the equivalent of nodding.

**You are worried. What is happening?**

“Do you think I am insane? I mean… I should be more concerned. Right?” Why the hell did Eddie even bother asking Venom. He did not know this creature, he did not know his intentions. Nor did he know, if he was dangerous or even real. All he knew was, that a few hours ago he had tried to kill himself and now he was going on with his day, like nothing happened. This was probably some kind of coping mechanism to prevent his brain from freezing itself? Eddie just didn’t know. He should have some kind of breakdown over the whole thing but here he sat, like everything was fine. No, nothing was fine. Not really, but like always, he would pretend. Because no one could know.

He felt Venom swirling in his stomach, like he was shifting uncomfortably, trying to make sense of that human mess, he got into. “You sure, you don’t wanna look for another host? I could help you find a good-”

**NO!**

Eddie jumped a little, at the loud growl. “Okay okay… no reason to get upset…”  
“Who is upset?” The journalist to be turned around and saw, that Dan had approached him from behind and now leaned over the bench.

“Uh, I gotta go now, bye.” Quickly he pressed the not functioning earpiece and put them away in his pockets. “H-hey Dan! Sorry, just a… uhm old school friend of mine. How are you doing?” Dan took the opportunity and sat next to him on the bench.

“Great, we have a bit free time now, so I wanted to go for a walk, clearing my head. Then I saw you over here. We don’t meet often. You know, only the two of us! Are you writing on an article?”

It was pretty hard not to show, how unwelcome Dan was right now. Eddie liked him a lot, but he was in no state of mind to be social right now. “Yes… I tried, but then I got the call… family, huh?”

Dan looked at him, clearly confused. “I thought it was an old friend?”

“Yeah! Just… he’s... you know, like a brother I never had.”

Dan didn’t seem to mind it further and nodded slightly. “Are you sure you are okay? You are pretty pale, Ed.” Before Eddie could react, he felt the icy fingers of the medical student on his forehead. “Mmm I think you got a bit of a fever… If you want, I can accompany you to the-”

“What? No, I am fine, thank you! I got my PE class soon, so I’d should better get to the gym now, thank you Dan! Hey, how about we eat dinner together later? The three of us, bring Annie! Just send me a message, where you wanna hang out, yes?”

He felt pretty impolite about running away like this, but he couldn't handle Dan right now. His headache got worse and he groaned lowly, as he walked to the gym. Could this day become any worse? Walking to the dresser room, he wondered, why he even had to ask. He could hear Flash from outside the door. Of course his PE class was the same time as his own… again. It was not, that Eddie didn’t like PE in general. He was a sporty guy, well trained and he loved to be active, but in college, it was not enough to be good. Especially in any kind of sport.

He waited, until the voices inside the dresser room had faded and then went inside, straight to his locker, where his sport clothes were. He was lucky, as the others were warming up already. If only he didn’t feel like his head was going to explode any minute…

**We can help you with that.**

Before Eddie could react, he felt something swirling inside of his head but then the dizziness stopped and with it the headache was gone. Irritated he touched his temple. “Wow… that was kinda cool, thanks”, he mumbled and felt a proud wave wash over him from inside. “Maybe… we can make this work out after all.” But only if they actually survived the class.

He waited in the locker room, until he was sure, the PE teacher was already in the gym as well and went outside, just in time. Warming up was one of the easier exercises, running a few rounds, stretching afterwards. In comparison to his usual level of fitness, he noticed a huge difference. It took him much longer to be out of breath, the five warm-up rounds didn’t do anything to his body. Amazed he could not wait for more, but first they had to do the stretches under the command of their teacher.

Then they went into different groups, one group playing basketball on one side of the field, one playing football on the field that was outside of the gym hall, another practicing some weird dance moves for a competition. Eddie was always in the basketball group but today… Flash was too.

“Hey, Eddie! Good to see you, pal!” The quarterback swung his arm around Eddies neck and rubbed his head a few times. “Can’t wait to play with you! Fair match, huh?”

Yeah, fair match his ass, as if the blonde ever played fair. “We’ll see if you can beat anyone without your stupid idiot-friends helping you.” Wait, why would he say that? Why would he provoke him? Growling lowly, he figured, that the creature had used his body again.

//Could you please not mess with him in my body? That would be too kind.//

Venom was silent, but Eddie could feel a smug wave coming from their bond. Great. Flash had obviously heard him, but as the teacher just came over to them, he just took one of the basketballs and dribbled it a few times. They formed two teams and first, it was a good match. Then their teacher decided to check on the football group outside and as soon as he had left the hall, Flash directed one ball directly to Eddies face. “Fuck!”, he cursed, but surprisingly caught it mere centimeters before it could hit his nose.

“Are you crazy? Can you please for once leave me the fuck alone?”, Eddie shouted then, absolutely fed up with the bully. The blonde had actually made him attempt to kill himself, what else could he do to him? Nothing, Eddie decided and threw the ball back to Flash to catch. “Try again? Is this entertaining you? I never did anything to you, I have no idea what your fucking problem is, but I am so tired of your shit.” He stepped towards the slightly taller quarterback and felt how proud Venom swirled around inside of him. Flash might not be aware of this, but Eddie finally stood up against him, not to protect or prove himself, but to protect Thompson of being the receiving end of Venom’s hunger.

“Are you kidding me? You have no idea, how your shitty article affected my career! It nearly ended it, you little punk!” Flash threw the ball away and stepped closer. “You think you’re so high and mighty, because your major is journalism? You think you are smarter than me, huh? Just because I build my career on muscle does not mean, I am an idiot. I worked hard to get where I am and I won’t let a shitty wanna-be reporter like you ruin that, you hear me?”

“I did, you speak loud enough. I never wanted to write that article in the first place, because I knew exactly you would take it as a personal offence. Flash, I fucking looked up to you, being all cool and popular. But that day you proved to be just a fucking insecure asshole who has to pick on those who are weaker, to make himself look better. That’s so pathetic.”

Never before had Eddie seen Flash that angry. His cheeks went red and his fists just looked like they were ready to finally smash the last breath out of his body, but Eddie could not care less. “You should really grow up, because you won’t have a career for long, if you decide to be the bully instead of someone who protects those weaker than himself.”

“Oh really? What's with that superhero bullshit now, Ed? You think I am the bad guy here? No one likes you!”

It seemed, that Flash wanted to say more, but suddenly he hesitated, looking to the ground. In this moment the teacher came back, alarmed by some other students. “Hey, everything fine here?”

“Yes, coach.” Flash answered and turned around.

Eddie only nodded and went straight back to the locker room. Fuck, what had gotten into him? “Was that… you? All that anger…”, he whispered, as he opened his locker.

**No, we did not do anything.**

“Fuck… he is going to kill me for real now.”

Eddie took a quick shower, before he dressed in his more comfortable clothes and took his bag, to go to the rest of his afternoon classes. Nothing amazing happened other than Venom swirling around inside of him, curious and never getting tired. It was exhausting for Eddie because the constant movement made it hard to concentrate, but luckily he always recorded the lessons for listening to them later again. After the classes he had some messages from Annie and Dan, inviting him for dinner in some fancy restaurant, but as the excitement from the day waned on his way back to his room, he felt more exhausted than ever. Hesitant he dialed Annie’s number and excused himself for the evening, while opening the door to his room. “Oh, sure! Dan told me, you looked a bit tired, maybe you should get some rest. We will bring you something to eat later, okay?”

“Thank you, Annie. You are both the best."

After ending the call, he threw his backpack on the bed and sighted. Back to where he started this morning. He just stood in the middle of his room for a while, spacing out, not thinking about anything In particular. He stared at the curtain, that hid the black and burned hole in the wall. “Fuck…”

Slowly he moved to the bed, pushed the backpack down, careful enough, so that the notebook inside would not be damaged, and lied on his back then. The ceiling was not any more exciting than it had been this morning or anytime before. “What am I gonna do now…”, he asked in the room and his heart jumped, as this time… he got an answer.

**Hungry. We should eat something.**

“I’m not hungry…” Instead he sat up and leaned his back on the wall. “Come out, I want to talk to you.” At first nothing happened. It even felt, like the creature had retreated completely. “Hey, you are not sulking now? I think I got some chocolate left somewhere… Do you like chocolate? You can eat it, but you have to come out for it.” Eddie went to one of the dressers and pulled the top drawer open. He had received a bit of a chocolade stock from girls on his classes. On his shoulder a black mass arose and looked like some kind of a black snake. It even stuck out its tongue to lick Eddie’s cheek. “You want some? Good, you can have two bars, if you answer my questions.”

He took them out and went back to the bed, opening one bar and broke a small piece from it.  
“Try some… I don’t want to accidently poison you…” He watched, as the black snake crawled it’s way down his arm and then licked on the piece in his hands.

**This contains phenethylamine...**

“Uh… is that a good thing?” Eddie wondered and looked at the black creature licking at the chocolate and then swallowing it whole. “Oh woah!”

**We need phenethylamine to survive. It is our main nourishment.**

“Oh really? I thought it was heads.” Eddie broke another piece off the bar and hand-fed it to Venom, before the black goo leapt himself over Eddie, to grab the rest of the bar. “Hey, slowly! Questions first.”

**The sustenance we need is found in human brains. And in chocolate. Maybe somewhere else. Hungry, now give me that!**

Eddie let go of the bar, that Venom grabbed with a tendril and was amazed just how easily the whole bar was gone within a second. “You usually don’t eat the wrapping, you know?

So… what exactly are you? Where are you from?”

**We are from Klyntar. The humans in the research facility called us Symbiote.**

“Klyntar? That sounds alien somehow…”

**Well to me, you are the alien, Eddie.**

“Are you sulking again? So… you are actually from another planet?”

**And another solar system. Yes.**

Okay, Eddie actually needed a second, to fully embrace the idea of having an alien parasite in his body. The more he talked to it, the less imaginary it seemed. No way his brain had the capacity to make stuff like this up.

**Told you. Not imaginary.**

“Yes yes… I know… It is just hard to grasp, you know?” Of course he wouldn’t know. Eddie unwrapped the second bar of chocolate and broke it in two pieces. “So… you said you were in a research facility? And you escaped. What do you want to do now?”

Venom, who had stared at the chocolate and suddenly dropped its tiny head with sad eyes.

**We don’t want to go back there. We do not follow our leader anymore. All we want is…**

Eddie wondered what it could be, but Venom would not continue. Surely his time in the research facility was upsetting. “There there… You are not there anymore. I can not promise, being with me is much joy but definitely not as horrible as being a lab rat. Here, you want the rest?” He gave Venom the two pieces and watched, as it opened it’s toothy maw and gulped both of them at once. Still he was kind of hungry. “Hey, do you need more or can you wait for Dan and Annie to bring something?” Venom rubbed his forehead against Eddie’s knee and then sank back into his skin. Not really an answer.

“Oh I got another question… Why do you look so different now? In the mirror this morning…”

**We do not want you to fear us. We are one now. We took an appearance that would not scare you.**

Eddie hummed softly and before he could think about any more answers, his body lifted from the bed by itself and his feet carried him to the bathroom in front of the sink. He looked into the mirror, finally seeing what Dan had meant. He was pale and tired looking, but considering what the day had brought him, he actually had more energy, than he would have believed possible.

“Okay, what are we doing here now?” Eddie asked, as nothing else moved anymore.

**We promised to take care of you. You are in need of those.**

His hand moved up to the small container that held his meds. Yes, he had forgotten them completely. He opened it and took one pill out. He knew, the phase had been this bad now, because he had forgotten to take them before the party. He had been too excited and if not for Venom this would have been a lethal mistake.

Carefully he filled a small cup with water and took it, without thinking twice. “Thanks, bud.” He mumbled and felt a wave of pride coming from the symbiote. “You know, tomorriw we will go to the store in my lunchbreak and buy you a lot of chocolate! Then you won’t have to eat brains. That’s more like a zombie thing, not an alien thing.” Eddie smiled fondly, as he stretched and went back into the bedroom.

“You know… I don’t think, I am scared of you, no matter your form.” The symbiote had treated him with more kindness and care, than any of his family or classmates for years. The only people who were so nice to him, were Annie and Dan. It meant a lot to him, that this creature who was obviously far more advanced and skilled than any human could ever hope for, decided to stick with him and take care of his sorry ass.

Eddie smiled, as he laid down and closed his eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for coming in again  
> All comments, questions and ideas are welcome~  
>   
> Stay tuned!  
>   
>   
>   
> Also for those who are interested in Flash:  
> I did my homework and worked myself through the old Spidey Issues and the more I learned about him, the more I fell in love with his character. For the purpose of this ff to work out, he still has to play the bully a bit, but I definetly won't just drop him now! You asked for a redemption ark and he shall have one!


	4. Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit shorter chapter but 5 will be up in 2 or 3 days, I promise ♡

More advanced and skilled than any human? Eddie couldn’t have been any more wrong in his whole life! It was about 2 a.m. now and he couldn’t close his eyes for more than a few minutes, until Venom moved excitedly inside of him, exploring the environment. 

“Hey, Venom, could you maybe let me sleep a bit?”

**What is the purpose of sleep?**

“Well, I don’t know. Humans need to sleep, to stay healthy… And I am really tired! You can’t be hungry anymore after the big meal, Dan brought us earlier!!”

**We are not hungry now.** The symbiote admitted. 

Groaning, Eddie turned around to lay on his stomach and pulled one pillow over his head, basically hoping to block out a voice that was in his head. He felt the cold shiver, as the black goo bleed out from his skin and layed himself next to Eddie. 

**And what do you do, when you sleep?**

“Venom! I just… How would I know? I am lying around, maybe drooling or snoring, until I wake up. Please, just let me sleep!” Eddie begged and turned to lie on his side, facing the milky white eyes, that scanned him in the dark. 

Carefully he stretched out his hand and poked the creatures head. It wobbled a bit like jelly and he felt confusion and a bit of joy coming from the symbiote. “Oh, you like that?” Eddie stroked the black mass softly, feeling how Venom relaxed as well. Eventually he fell asleep, one hand still on top of the alien, that curled under it and stayed there.

__

It was weird to watch his host lying there for nearly two hours now. The symbiote did not understand the concept of sleeping, but after searching through Eddie’s mind, he understood that is was important for the vital functions of their body. 

Still it was kind of boring. 

He could try to reach the dresser with the chocolate in it, but then he would probably wake his host up and from what he learned in Eddies memories, he would be angry at him. 

Venom crawled up under his hand and hovered over the sleeping boy for a bit, poking his cheek carefully. While he was neither snoring nor drooling, this sleep seemed like a highly ineffective and insecure system. If someone were to attack, no one could protect his host, if it were not for Venom! 

How did those creatures actually survive for such a long time? They seemed fragile and incapable of keeping themselves healthy and well nourished. 

The symbiote felt pride in making this boy take better care of himself from now on, making them both benefit from their bond. 

This was, what he always dreamed of. 

It was rare to find a good host, because for a bond to succeed, they needed to be fully compatible. A few other things were important as well, but a symbiosis could not happen with a host, if they were less than 100 % compatible. 

Every host that would fit less would not be able to hold the symbiote for long, so they would devour their host and move on, finding another one. Depending on how well the host fit, they would be able to stay longer. 

With Eddie, he had found a host that was 100 % compatible with himself. At this point, Venom had long lost all hope for finding his perfect host! He’d gotten lucky with this one, even if the boy himself was broken inside. He could fix it! He just had to, to ensure his own survival as well. 

The boy moved in his sleep, his relaxed expression morphing into an unpleasant one, grabbing his pillow and shaking a bit. Venom watched him a short time, taking in, what chemicals their brain set free on Eddie’s sleep, then deciding, that he could not leave him alone in this. 

Softly he pulled up the blanket a bit higher, covering the cold shoulders. It helped a bit against the shivering, but the boy grew more restless every passing minute. 

Quickly he looked into his memories and actually found a way to sooth the ‘nightmare’ as Eddie had called it, when it had happened before. He materialised himself on Eddies skin, like a warm and heavy blanket, grounding him and giving him support and closeness. 

He moved slowly and carefully around him, so he wouldn’t accidently wake him up and soon the boy was sleeping safe and sound again, actually drooling a bit now. 

___

The next morning Eddie woke up feeling refreshed and relaxed. He yawned and wanted to stretch, as he felt something snuggling to his side. Confused he lifted the blanked, as he saw the black blob lying half on top of him. “W-wow!! What’s-” Eddie stopped right in his tracks, as he remembered, what had happened yesterday. 

**Good morning, Eddie.**

The mass lifted and the head, he remembered, formed hovering slightly above his chest and smiled widely. “Oh! Uh- g-good morning!”, he mumbled and lifted himself on his elbows. 

“How did you sleep, Venom?”, he asked and tried to ignore, that there was basically an alien coming out of his stomach.

**We don’t sleep, Eddie** .

“Oh… right you said something like that yesterday.” He remembered. “But… what did you do then?”

**We protected you! We kept you warm.**

“That’s really nice of you. Thank you!” 

Not that Eddie understood, why he needed protection in the first place, but it was nice to know, Venom didn’t do anything creepy while he was asleep. He pushed the covers back completely and after Venom’s black mass sank back into his stomach, he got up.

“So… I need to shower… uhm… could you maybe look away?” The only answer he got was a wave of confusion and then some movement inside of his body, like Venom tried to figure out the source of Eddie’s embarrassment. 

**We don’t understand…**

“Well… how do I explain this? Ah! nevermind!!” Why would he need to justify himself! He went to the bathroom and started to undress himself. Usually he slept only in boxer shorts, but after he did not spend the night alone, he had worn a full pyjama set with a too warm shirt and too long pants. 

He pulled the shirt from his sweaty body and shivered at the cold air. Suddenly a black mass sept out of his skin and formed something, that looked like the T-Shirt he just took off. “Oh wow!”   


**You are freezing, Eddie! We warm you.**

“Thanks, really bud, but… uh the whole thing about showering is not wearing anything while doing it!” Why did he even have to explain? He felt the heat rise up his cheeks, as he opened the shower tap, so the water could pre-heat. “There! All nice and warm, yes? I won’t catch a cold from this tiny chill, promise!”

Hesitating the black goo sank back and Eddie took a deep breath. That he ever needed to explain a shower. He undressed completely and stepped inside of the shower, closing his eyes and enjoying the water on his skin. The warmth helped his muscles to relax and he already felt so much fresher. 

He took his lazy 2in1 shower gel and as he opened the bottle, the black snake came from his shoulder once again and leant forward, to smell it. 

**Can we eat it??**

“No! That’s not for eating, you use it to wash!” Eddie turned the bottle upside down and dropped a bit of the product on top of Venom’s head. Grinning he smeared it all over the black skin, as Venom’s confusion grew. 

**What are you doing? Stop that, human!**

Venom growled,  but as soon as  Eddie began to massage the stuff in, the big white eyes narrowed to tiny slits and Venom practically  _ purred. _

“See? It’s nice! Now you wash it off under the stream,” he explained, while he washed himself with the shower gel and then put some in his palm to wash his hair as well. “Nice and clean!”

Eddie finished his shower. It had not been as bad as he had first thought. He dried himself with a soft towel and then held it up, so Venom could roll himself in it to dry.

After his usual morning routine, he dressed himself and packed his backpack for the day.

**Hungry...**

“I know! I am too… we’ll go have breakfast with Dan and Annie now, so you better behave. I will buy a few more things for you to eat over the day, we will find out what you like, yes? Oh!”

Before he could forget it, he took another bar if chocolate and unpacked it.

“Here! Eat it and then you can not come out until we are alone again, okay?”

**We promise! Chocolate!!**

Eddie smiled, as he watched the black snake eating the bar right from his hands.

Laughing he took his earphones in again and left, heading to the cafeteria.

Annie and Dan waited for him outside. “Morning! How are you?” Annie asked and smiled softly. Her hand was in Dan's and it hurt. At the same time, he was happy for them.

“Fine! Sorry again, that I could not make it yesterday! If you are okay with it, we could reschedule?”

“Eddie, you looked horribly sick yesterday, don't be sorry! I'm glad you feel better,” Dan said fast and they all walked in. He was actually surprised, how much he could eat and still feel hungry.

After breakfast he went to his classes like normal. It was weird how ordinary his day was after what happened the last two days and it bothered him. Still he felt relieved, that the symbiote kept his promise and - apart from various funny comments - he did not show his face at all.

For lunch he went to a supermarket nearby as he had promised the day before and bought a few more bars of different kinds chocolate to test what nourished the symbiote the best and a few pieces of meat that Venom demanded. “Dude, you are making me poor.” Eddie laughed, after he had paid and left the store.

Back in his room he let Venom choose two packages he wanted them to eat and put the rest in the fridge. And the tater tots he had bought himself in the small freezer.

**Why can't we eat all the meat?**

“Because I can't afford too much and you'll probably get hungry later again! We’ll keep something for dinner.”

This lunch time Eddie learned the hard way, that whatever he ate would feed Venom as well, but it did not mean he had to eat everything Venom wanted.

“Fuck… don't ever force me to eat raw meat again…” Eddie brushed his teeth after a good ol’ time spent with his head over the toilet bowl and held his aching stomach.

**We are still hungry!**

“Then eat it yourself… I'm not hungry anymore” He went back to the bedroom and sat down on the covers of his bed, putting a few bottles of water next to himself. Venom gulped the meat pieces down, while Eddie drank half a bottle to calm his upset stomach. He sat down and watched his alien pet eating the leftovers from breakfast right after the meat.

**Not a pet. We are a symbiote!**

“Sorry, sorry!” Eddie laid down on the bed and closed his eyes, only listened to the munching noises of his room and body mate.

Venom seemed to notice, that he massaged his hurting stomach with the hand, as suddenly a few tendrils rose from his hips and pressed themselves softly into his skin.

Eddie looked down and decided, that this was not the strangest thing that ever happened to him. “Thanks.” It was actually helping a lot, the pain was nearly gone by now. 

Venom hummed lowly as he ate the rest and then settled down on as a small blob next to his hand, pressing itself against his palm.

He massaged it softly with his thumb and enjoyed the peace. “We need to get ready for our next class soon.” 

**What us the purpose of those classes? Most of the humans slept or stared at the moving pictures in their weird electric blocks.**

“Videos… the moving pictures are called videos and they watched them on their tablets or notebooks. I admit it's quite stupid? We are supposed to study and learn things there that are necessary for getting a job and a steady income later.”

Eddie explained a lot about the university and his major. That he wanted to become a reporter for a big newspaper after he got his degree and other future plans.

**You smile when you talk about your future. That's good.**

The sudden words caught him by surprise. Yes, he was happy to think about the things he had planned and the things he wished for. “I'm sorry… I was… so angry at you, when you didn't let me do it. But… I never thanked you for it.

Thank you, Venom”

The symbiote lifted his head and nuzzled his cheek softly.

**We take care of you. You are mine. And we are one.**

Eddie was a bit surprised of Venom’s choice of words. He never referred to himself as a single being before, but it did not fail to make him feeling soft and warm. “Yeah, we are one. Hey Venom? May I ask… why you chose me?”

**That night when we found you… We felt a connection. You are our perfect host and we felt that bond drawing us to you.**

“But what does that mean? A perfect host?”

**Perfect match. If the match is not perfect, the host can not carry us without us killing him. We were looking for a perfect host. A perfect bond, not a vehicle.**

“So… usually a host is only a vehicle for you?”

**Not for us, but for the others.**

Eddie nodded and softly rubbed the dark skin between Venoms eyes, where his forehead was supposed to be. Again the black face relaxed into his touch and both of them felt the pleasure of the soft massage. 

Soon they got up for their next class. It was nice, how ordinary everything was… at least for a while.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much ♡   
> I set a goal for 10 chapters now, as I have worked out the concept of my original idea~
> 
> But I actually consider a few oneshots for this AU, so if there is anything you want to see in particular or maybe something else ~ please let me know I the comments!


	5. Five

“Venom… please…”, Eddie moaned into his pillow and dug his fingers deeper into the cover.

 **Eddie**.

“No! I just want to sleep, please stop moving! I thought you understood that I need to sleep…”

**But you sleep so often! It's so boring.**

Eddie huffed and got up in a sitting position. The clock showed that it was 1 a.m. already. Great. “Okay, you are bored. I get that. But I can't function, when I'm tired and I will be if I don’t get more rest.”

He looked around and yawned, thinking what he could offer to distract Venom from moving around in his body all the time.

It had been an exciting week and so far, he really appreciated Venom’s company. He felt less alone and less empty. The symbiote reminded him to take his meds regularly and Eddie enjoyed teaching him things. But sleeping was not really an easy topic.

The symbiote did not sleep and Eddie understood that it made him feel uneasy, that his host was helpless and unconscious for a certain amount of time everyday. No matter how much he explained, that he was safe and that nothing could happen to him, the symbiote was restless and worried as soon as he started his bedtime routine.

“Okay… how about a compromise…” Eddie finally had an idea. He got up and stretched a bit, then thought about how he managed to bring it into action. “Hey, I'm too tired… help me move the dresser?”

Venom was confused but instead of asking, Eddie's hands were enveloped by a black mass that formed fingers just like a human's but slightly bigger.

Carefully he moved the furniture to the free end of the bed, so the door to the bathroom would still be accessable and he could reach all the drawers.

“Now we have to lift this on top of the dresser.” Venom grabbed the TV and so on it was placed on top of the lowboard dresser.

Eddie plugged it in and then sat back on the bed. “Okay, that's the deal. You can watch TV. But on the lowest volume, no moving around like crazy and you let me sleep. Yes?” He turned it on and lowered the volume to the minimum.

The symbiote seemed confused but finally sank out of his skin and took the remote that Eddie held out for him. “Good… now be a good symbiote and let papa sleep…”

With the last of his strength he curled back under the covers and watched, as Venom flipped through the channels, before he finally fell asleep.

The next morning was lazy and relaxed, Venom did not complain about a boring night but he excitedly told Eddie about the things he had learned. This would calm him down a bit, but he still felt uneasy.

The last week he had managed to avoid Flash after the PE class but today they had yet another class they shared.

“Promise me, whatever he does or says! Don't do anything, okay? If anyone knew about you, they would hunt you down!” Eddie could not lose his best friend.

To absolutely noone's surprise, as soon as he walked in, one of Flash’s goons immediately threw a book at him. Thanks to Venom’s reflexes, he dodged it easily. “Look! You are still alive?? We didn't see you for a week.”

The idiot laughed and came to stand right in front of Eddie. “Yeah… couldn't smell your disgusting perfume anymore. What do you want?”, Eddie said.

“Ohhh! Damn, Brock, you can talk? Look at that!!”

One of them pushed him, so Eddie bumped into someone standing behind him. What surprised him was, that whoever it was, stopped his fall and helped him up.

“Flash! Morning!” The bully grinned and Eddie's heart sank. Luck was not really with him today! But instead of picking on him, Flash patted him on the back, like making sure that Eddie had already regained his balance and then passed him by without a word.

“What? Hey, Flash!”

The blonde glared at his friend and growled a low “Just let him be.” And went to his table, sat down without a second look.

Wow, that was indeed new.

**He felt our power. He is scared.**

//He is not, come on… but it is strange...//

Eddie wondered, as he sat in his own chair. He couldn't really follow the class this time, thinking about what had gotten into Flash to help him?

He had no chance to ask him, because as soon as the bell rang, the quarterback got up and left the room. Eddie tried to hurry after him, but he was already out of sight.

**Eddie. Run.**

Irritated he felt how Venom moved his head and Eddie saw a few guys in uniforms walking up the corridor. “Damn… you know them, right?”

Venom's fear answered his question. He turned around, went back to the classroom and watched the guys pass him, going right to the headmaster office.

“How do they know you are here… can they track you?”

**We don't know.**

Eddie left the school building in a hurry, trying not to be seen by any of the soldiers or whoever they were. Outside of the building, he ran around the corner, headed to the dorm, but he was stopped, when he ran into another person.

“Ugh!!”

Both of them landed on the ground. “Oh god! I'm so sorry, I didn't see- F-flash!” Eddie pushed himself up fast and held his hand out, to help the other guy up.

“You okay?” he asked, still a little out of breath.

“Sure. Watch it, Brock,” the other man said, and wanted to leave.

“Hey wait! I wanted to talk to you… do you have-”

**Eddie!**

He turned around and saw a few of the soldiers coming out of the building. A little jumpy he pulled Flash with him behind the corner and watched them leave towards the student dorm.

“Fuck… what a nightmare…”, he cursed and tried to think what to do now. If they could track Venom, there was no way, they could escape, but he couldn't let them take him!

“-ie? Hey? Are you listening?” He heard behind him and turned around. Shit, he had forgotten about Flash for a minute.

“Yeah! I mean… Sorry, I was just-”

Flash rolled his eyes nearly visible before he grabbed his wrist. “You wanna talk? I know a quiet place.”

Some weird Déjà-vu hit him, as Flash pulled him after himself, but he followed quietly. If Flash wanted to beat him up for last week, better sooner than later. He still had Venom with him to protect him from the worst.

Flash brought him to some storage shack far away from the main campus. It was stuffed with gardening gadgets but otherwise quiet, with nary a soul around.

“Explain. Why the fuck is Eddie Brock running from some officers? Did you write an article about them?”

Eddie stuffed his hands to his pockets and looked Flash right into the eyes. He couldn't tell if he was seriously interested in talking or just leading him into a trap.

“I know you are kidding but… no, I didn't. I don't know why they are here, but I got a bad feeling about this and I don't want any trouble. I got enough of it the last few months.”

Flash clenched his jaw, but before he answered, Eddie held up both hands to placate him.

“I'm sorry. I went too far last week in PE. I didn't want to snap, I don't know what got into me…” The blonde huffed and shook his head.

“Sometimes I really don't believe you. Why are you sorry? I… I'm sorry. I was the biggest asshole on earth, still you are the one apologising? Ed, look I got no excuse. What I did deserves no forgiveness, but I'm sorry. I went too far, you were right last week. Never in my life did I want to be like…” Flash bit his lips and looked away, struggling to find his words.

**Eddie.**

//Not now, V.//

“I am insecure… And I’m just a bully asshole who tries to cover his own flaws, but what I did doesn't make me strong. It makes me pathetic.”

**Eddie…**

“Just like you said. I was so busy to impress people who don't care about me, that I never-

I'm sorry, Brock. I really am.”

“Flash… I don't know what to say- I'm… thank you. Thank you, really, I-”

**Eddie.**

“Not now!”

Flash looked at him confused, but suddenly his arm turned black. “Wow! Brock, what's that??”

“Oh! Nonono, V! Not now!”

Suddenly the black mass rose over them and the next thing he heard were gunshots coming from the other side of the door. Venom’s goo protected both of them.

“Oh God! What the-”

A smoke bomb fell through the window and both boys were forced to run out of the small shack.

Eddie couldn't react, before Venom took him completely in.

______

 **“Stay behind us, Flash.”** Venom growled and turned around, holding one hand in front of the blonde. Eddie didn't want him hurt, so they would protect him.

Some guys surrounded them, guns held up, shouting commands.

Venom fought quick and effective, they stood no chance and after the last guy attacked him, he opened his dangerous maw and bit his head off without any effort.

The rest of the body fell to the ground and he growled loud, looking around him, still feeling the adrenaline rush through his body.

Then he felt that his host forced himself back to control and as the current danger had faded, Venom let him.

____

Eddie looked at his hands, suddenly his again and then around him. “Oh… God… I just…”

He killed a man… wounded half a dozen others…

“Wow! Eddie, what was that!”

Someone grabbed his shoulders and pulled at him, as he was not reacting, still shaking and taking in what had happened.

Eddie unconscious paid all the respect to Flash, as the other man didn't run away from him, he just pulled him in some direction, the journalist didn't know.

He followed him like in a trance, not being able to grasp what was happening. Soon they stood in front of a small flat complex, where Flash let them in with his keys. They took the elevator to one of the upper floors.

“Come…” The blonde pushed him into one of the flats and closed the door behind themselves. “Sit down. Brock? Hey…”

**Eddie. We must not stay here. They are still following.**

“Who… who were they?”

**They belong to the research facility. Their boss, I saw him before.**

“Their boss… you mean the one you ate??”

**We need that energy.**

“I told you! You can't do-”

“Eddie?”

Still shaking he looked up to the glass of water, Flash held out for him.

“Who are you talking to? What was that... thing?”

Suddenly Venom’s head materialized over his shoulder and hovered next to him, in all his scary glory, huge teeth and that long tongue.

**Not a thing!**

Venom hissed and looked at Flash.

“Venom! Calm down!” Eddie jumped to his feet and for a moment the alien just stared into his eyes, before his form softened around the edges, looking less dangerous and somehow more like a cartoon snake.

“Flash, that's… Venom. I don't know how to explain but…” He was looking for words, clearly struggling, “He is an alien that escaped the research facility nearby and he needs a host to survive. So he is kind of inside me and I hear him talk in my head.”

Flash just stared at him with a blank expression, then nodded. “Okay.”

“Okay? Flash… is everything-”

“Of course! I bullied a guy who is half alien and just ate someone's head. Great. I mean… wow…”

“He won't hurt you. I don't want to hurt anyone, really!”

Both of them were silent for a while, letting the stuff they just leaned sink in, before Venom suddenly licked his cheek

**“We are hungry.”**

“Again? You just- I just- ahh…” Frustrated he opened his backpack and threw a few bars of chocolate next to him on the couch. “There, eat them all.”

Happy the symbiote grabbed the bars and ate them whole.

“What did I tell you about the package. If I get a food poisoning because you eat all that trash, I swear to god!”

Eddie groaned and pressed his face into his hands, trying to breathe and stop shaking. This was a nightmare. He could not stay here or his friends would be in danger. But where would he go?

They couldn't take the symbiote from him. At this point the student was more than convinced, that he would drop dead as soon as Venom left his body. If this was even possible?

**“Eddie, breathe! We won't let them take us away. We will fight! They can not hurt you as long as we are together.”**

“Yeah but they seemed pretty determined. What do they want from you?” Flash asked and sat down on a chair, looking at the boy on his couch.

Eddie didn't react, he couldn't calm himself, even as he tried to steady his breath as Dan had showed him, when this had happened before.

**“Eddie. Eddie?”**

_____

Flash watched the two if them and saw, that something was not right. The symbiote sounded worried and sank back into Brock’s skin, only to materialise again a few seconds later. Whatever he formed looked like a hand, squeezing his shoulder.

He got up and sat next to Eddie, wanted to pull his hand away from his face, but the boy’s muscles were so tense, he couldn't move it an inch.

“Okay, I got it, dude, you are upset. I understand. You are scared and you don't wanna face this. I know. But you are strong. One step at a time. Breathe! In and out. Listen to me okay?” Flash pulled the shaking mess closer to himself and held him, stroking his arm.

“What if they take him away?” At this point Eddie’s voice was nothing more than a faint sob. Flash closed his eyes, he remembered as his sister had panic attacks after their dad would scream and hurt him.

“They won't. I know something for sure, that’s a helluva beast you got there and no one can beat him! Maybe except for Spider-Man.”

Eddie finally seemed to calm down, but as the attack had cost a lot of strength, he merely tilted to the side, leaning to Flash.

If someone would have told him about this two weeks ago, he would have pushed their head into a toilet probably.

“Listen, you need to relax a bit, I will make lunch and then we can talk more. Sound like a plan?”

______

Eddie nodded and felt that Venom spread over his shoulders and back like a heavy blanket. It felt good, like a hug. What a fucking weird twist of fate. Of all people he had to run into Flash and instead of judging him, being scared or maybe calling the cops, he helped him through a panic attack and even offered to make food.

What a damn weird day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Flash's change of mind might seem fast. More in chapter 6!!!


	6. Six

When Flash came back to his living room, Eddie had passed out on his couch. Great… Hopefully the boy’s fears were not correct and they couldn't track the alien or else they would come here next.

Flash warmed up some food and brought a couple plates in before leaving him sleeping in peace. The quarterback knew from experience, how exhausted people could get after a panic attack and he did not want to further disturb him. It was a wonder anyway, that his presence had helped Eddie calm down instead of making him panic even more, after what he had done to Eddie in the past.

While he waited for the food to be ready, he stood in the doorway, connecting the kitchen and the living room. He watched the other boy with his arms crossed and mind wandering elsewhere.

What Eddie had yelled at him last week had made him think. He was indeed nothing more than a bully. And most of his friends were only his friends, so they wouldn't be on the receiving side of his ire. He was way too aware of that now.

He never wanted to be like his father. That fucking drunk excuse for a cop, who would beat up his kids on a weekly basis. 

Eddie had opened his eyes and it made Flash sick to see, what he had become. 

Flash sighed and turned around, going back to the kitchen. What had hit him most was that Eddie had so freely told him that he had looked up to him. 

Of course Flash wanted to be someone people could look up to.

“Fuck,” he cursed, as the hot stove door burned his hand while he made a grab for the lasagna inside.

“Wake up, princess, you gotta eat something.”

**“We are no princess.”**

Instead of Eddie waking up, the black alien materialized out of his shoulder again, looking at him with an expression, Flash was incapable of deciphering. 

It was strange to watch, but it didn't look as scary as it had before. That round face, wide eyes and the closed mouth, with only the tip of that huge tongue protruding. It was actually kind of cute…

“Of course you are not. Wake him up, he has to eat something.”

**“He is exhausted, he needs sleep when he is exhausted.”**

“That's true, but food will provide him with the energy he needs as well.”

That Venom alien seemed to think about it and looked down to Eddie. Suddenly it seemed insecure.

**“He told us not to wake him up. He will get angry at us…”**

Flash really didn’t want to argue with an alien who just beaten up or killed a couple of soldiers, including literally eating one’s head.

“Great… you said you are hungry as well? Do you eat this?” He put some of the lasagna on a plate and set it on Eddie's side of the table before he got himself a plate.

“It's nothing special,” he said, before he started to eat, looking out of the window.

The alien goo hovered over the plate, like it was deciding what to do, then it sunk back into Eddie's skin. Couldn't be too hungry then?

“WOAH!”

Suddenly Eddie shot up, like he was thrown in ice cold water, disoriented and breathing like he just had run a marathon.

“What the-! Don't do that ever again.” He cursed under his breath and looked around, trying to remember what happened. As he finally turned around to Flash, the quarterback merely held up one hand.

“Morning. You should eat something.”

___

Eddie's heartbeat was quicker than a hummingbird as he tried to calm down from the shot of adrenaline Venom sent through him.

**He is right. You need to eat.**

//Yeah and why didn't you eat? You know it doesn't matter which of us does it.//

**But it's dead meat. We don't eat dead meat, you don't eat raw meat.**

Eddie sighed and massaged the bridge of his nose with his fingers before yawning.

“Flash! Thank you so much, I can't… I can't thank you enough for helping me today.”

“Least I could do.” The quarterback answered quietly. “Tell me more about that alien, I'm curious.”

Eddie explained a few things he felt safe sharing. He left out the depression and suicide part, because no one needed to know about that. 

It was so weird to sit here with Flash of all people and Eddie had to admit he was still a bit scared that the quarterback would use the knowledge against him, but so far…

Flash was like a completely different person.

They talked a lot, about all kinds of things and as strange as it was for both of them, they learned that they were not as different as they first had thought.

Then Annie called him, clearly worried.

“Annie, did something happen?”

“You don't know? There were a lot of guys with weapons in the dorm and they were looking for something. Please be careful!” Annie explained. “Where are you, we thought you would be in your apartment, but-”

“Oh no, I'm fine. I'm with Flash at the moment, but we can meet at my room in about ten minutes? See ya, bye.”

Before Annie could react to him actually hanging out with his worst nightmare, he ended the call and stood up.

“Thank you so much for everything, Flash, but my friends are worried. It seems a few of the mercenaries also checked out the dorm.”

Flash sighed and nodded. “Good, gimme five minutes to clean the kitchen.”

Eddie was a bit perplexed but Flash didn't leave any room for argument, so he just took his own empty plate and brought it out with Flash.

They cleaned the kitchen together in silence before leaving.

“I hope I don't… uh disturb your plans for the day,” Eddie said, and looked up at the other boy.

“Nah, I’d rather bring you to the dorm.”

“Flash? I understand you're sorry. And I really really appreciate your help! But… you don't have to feel responsible or anything. You don't owe me anything.”

Flash just shrugged and then nodded.

“I know.”

They walked the rest of the way in silence until they reached Eddie's room. Annie and Dan were standing in front if the closed door.

They both seemed to be irritated by Flash's presence, but after a short weird silence, they greeted both of them. 

Eddie struggled with his keys. He was keenly aware that none of them ever had been inside. 

//Venom, where did you put… the thing again?//

**Desk drawer.**

He sighed with relief and opened the door. This could get really weird really quick.

Against all of his expectations, the afternoon was really nice. They ordered pizza and talked about everything and nothing at all.

____

Soon they had integrated Flash into their small group and following that, they grew closer even in class.

Eddie couldn't really understand how this happened, but surprisingly they became friends. 

He had been really lucky because no one suspected him of being the man-eating monster so far.

**We are not a monster.**

“I know, V,” he said laughing, lying on his bed and looking up the ceiling, listening to the cute little munching noises Venom was making.

It was a lazy Sunday for them and after he had finished his homework and articles, he let Venom eat his meat, while Eddie relaxed on the bed.

This week had been crazily ordinary and he smiled softly, thinking about it.

The school had informed them, that the mercenaries had been looking for some kind of escaped animal from the facility, but that they were able to locate it in a town nearby. 

Probably they assumed that Venom would not stay there after he had been found so fast. How they found him was still a mystery to Eddie, because if they really could track him, they could have captured him all week.

Venom had finished his meal and now curled up on his belly, like a puppy, eyes closed to thin lines and the tip of his tongue sticking out lazy.

Carefully, he rested his hand on top of Venom’s head and massaged it, immediately feeling the bio-feedback and a wave of pleasure coming from his symbiote.

The black goo purred softly and it was a funny feeling. Venom curled his long tongue around his pale fingers.

A warm feeling spread in Eddie's body and he was not sure what this meant.

The last few days he had discovered the alien especially interested in the behaviour between what he termed “humans in mating season.” 

Every time he saw a couple kissing or holding hands, Eddie could feel a certain curiosity from the symbiote. It was easier for him every day to understand the alien, knowing how he felt through their bond. Sometimes, he was even able to see fragments of his thoughts. 

The way Venom thought was completely different from how human minds worked. He didn't need words, and his thoughts mostly consisted of pictures, emotions, and smells. 

The symbiote had been asking Eddie a lot about relationships. Why he never had one, how a relationship worked, why people would hold hands.

There had been that one time where Eddie was walking home after an afternoon class, when suddenly he felt the cold shiver of Venom leaving his skin around his elbow. 

The black goo had spread under the fabric of his hoodie, down his arm until it had formed a handshape, taking Eddie's hand in his, not letting it go until they had been in their room and Eddie needed to open the door. 

Venom had sunk back inside his body without a word about it. But after that they would hold hands inside of his hoodie whenever possible. Eddie did not mind that at all. He felt grounded and appreciated by this affection.

Sometimes, when he laid in his bed, slowly falling asleep to the low volume of some documentary the alien was watching, he felt Venom’s breath in his neck. It was almost as if the symbiote was smelling him.

Sometimes he woke up, feeling Venom curled up next to his chest, holding the symbiote in his arms. Other times he would find himself being spooned by Venom, as he had formed himself in an upper body, holding him in his jet black strong arms.

He enjoyed being close to his friend, but sometimes it worried him. There shouldn't be butterflies in his stomach whenever he felt the alien’s warm touch.

He shouldn't get all excited when Venom wanted to know more about what couples would do.

_____

Venom grew impatient with his host being distracted from the massage he gave him. After the third time he accidently poked his teeth, the symbiote got annoyed and bit his finger. “Hey!”

**Eddie… your thoughts are elsewhere again!**

There were times when Eddie's thoughts drifted so far away that even Venom couldn't see them. It didn't upset him. He himself didn't share everything either. 

But when Eddie drifted away like this, sometimes it meant that his meds weren’t working well and Venom worried about him. Eddie was still broken inside, even if he had healed a lot since they had found each other. 

No matter how much the symbiote tried to make him happy, sometimes those bad thoughts and moods got the best of his host. 

All he wanted was for his host to be healthy and happy.

“Don't worry, no bad thoughts, Venom!”

He watched his human smile and then cuddled against the crook of his neck, tickling his ear with his tongue. His Eddie laughed and it was the most beautiful sound in the world.

**What are you thinking about?**

“Uh… I...” Suddenly Eddie's face went all red and hot, Venom lifted his head and watched him, smiling and waiting for an answer.

It didn't come, so the symbiote dropped against his host’s chest again, nestled closer to him. Eddie's heart was racing like he’d just run a marathon and he was shivering a bit. 

This reminded him of his first panic attack, but it felt different. Eddie was not upset. Quite the opposite, but Venom was not completely sure.

**We like this. You are warm and soft.**

“D-don't say it like that.” Eddie stuttered and looked to the side, as if he was trying not to face the symbiote.

**Why not?**

“Venom… why are you so interested in what couples do?”

The symbiote was surprised by the sudden change of topic, but his host still wouldn't face him.

“I mean… do symbiotes even feel something like that?”

**You mean… desire? Yes.**

Eddie got even more flustered by his answer.

**Is this why you are so excited? You feel desire. For… us?**

____

The silence stretched between them and  he felt Venom’s smug grin at that. “S-sorry… that's weird, I know…”

Before he could apologise more, he suddenly felt a tendril on his chin, turning his head carefully, so he would finally face the symbiote. 

Surely his face was completely red now. He must look like an idiot. But instead of laughing at his stupidity, he suddenly felt Venom coming closer and instead of shrugging away he leaned into the kiss, closing his eyes.

The sensation was strange, as Venom didn't have human lips, but it didn’t feel wrong per se.

He carefully touched the side of Venom’s face and shivered at the bio-feedback, feeling the dual sensation of touching and being touched through their strong connection. 

“Do you… feel that as well?”

**We do. We enjoy kissing you.**

“I liked it too…”

**Do you want us to do it more?**

“Uh, if… You want it too? I'd like it.”

**We want to kiss you a lot, Eddie!**

He felt a rush of excitement coming from the symbiote and before he could answer, he was drawn into another kiss. This time, Venom licked his lips and pushed his tongue in his mouth without any force. 

Eddie hummed a bit. He should probably be at least disgusted by that huge tongue, but it felt good, their combined pleasure shared through their bond only heightened his excitement.

It was not like he had never kissed anyone. He had kissed a lot of people, girls and boys alike. But it had never felt that right, not like this. He never felt a connection with anyone else, never felt desire for anyone. He had been in love with Annie for a long time, but never felt physically attracted to her. 

Venom pressed him a bit more into the mattress with his weight and deepened their kiss, playing with his tongue and testing out what felt good for both of them. 

**You used to go out, to be touched by others… why don’t you do it anymore?**

“I don’t know… I didn’t feel like being touched by anyone else  ever since you found me” 

Eddie was way too content with the current situation to lie or feel ashamed by it. Of course he had felt the urge to touch himself. Going a month without had been unthinkable before, but here he was.

He was horny as hell, but he was too embarrassed to do anything about it with Venom right  there. 

Suddenly, he felt a hand on his chest under the shirt, rubbing over his chest, letting him feel the mere trace of the claws that were there instead of finger nails. 

He held his breath and looked up at the milky white eyes.

**We want to touch you, Eddie, can we? Will you let us touch you? Do you trust us?**

“Of course I do, V, I trust you…” he said, lifting his hand and touching him softly. “P-please touch me…”   


Eddie felt the arousal growing inside of him, felt the symbiote’s tongue tasting his neck while his hand moved under his shirt, stroking down to his belly, then carefully grabbing ahold of his sides and hips. He shivered a bit, closing his eyes and just concentrating on the sensations. 

**We feel good.**

“Yeah, we do!” Eddie hummed in contentment, leaning up once more into a slobbery kiss, feeling Venom’s tongue slide down his throat to take away his breath.

**We take care of you, Eddie.**

It was as if Venom wanted to calm him down, except he already trusted him. He didn’t feel the need to breathe but his mind was too occupied with what they were doing to care about oxygen anyway.

Venom’s hands slid down his skin to the edge of his pants, as if to ask for permission. Eddie nodded and lifted his hips a bit. Two tendrils came out of his sides, pushing down his pants while at the same time lifting his hoodie over his head. 

Soon Eddie lay on his back, completely bare, but he did not feel the chill air biting his heated skin, instead there was only heat and Venom. 

While they kissed, he felt the warm tendrils massaging his inner thighs, avoiding his dick on purpose. It felt so unbelievably good, like Venom knew exactly how to touch him. 

**We do. We know what makes you feel good!**

“But does it feel good for you too?” He didn't want the symbiote to feel forced into this, even though he knew that they both wanted this. He could feel Venom’s pleasure and desire over their bond.

Instead of answering, Venom’s head sank down until he was hovering over Eddie’s crotch. Eddie watched in awe as the long tongue slid out of his mouth.

He lifted himself on his elbows and watched the slick tongue sliding down to his half hard cock, curling around it softly at first. He moaned and sank back down, when the sensation became too intense. 

“Venom.” He moaned and let his head fall back into the pillow, feeling warm tendrils around his shoulders, pressing him down, grounding him. The tongue that stroked his dick was strong and sure. It drew a loud moan from his lips.

Eddie could feel the tips of the sharp teeth grazing on his sensitive skin but not breaking it. “O-oh god… Venom-” The same time he felt a hand taking his, lifting it above his head and pressing it into the pillow, pressing him down on the bed. 

In time he lost track of how many hands were on his body, it just felt so incredibly good.

Venom lifted his head again, taking Eddie’s dick in a big black hand. Venom massaged him with such  a steady and sweet rhythm that Eddie was sure he’d lose his mind in the end. 

Again, he felt the long tongue on his cheek, then licking his lips softly, before bringing him into a deep kiss again.

The symbiote moved faster and squeezed tighter around him, massaging his balls with black tendrils while stroking his hard cock with a strong grip.  Eddie's clawed at the covers and the hand he was holding, unable to lie still. His hips moved almost of their own accord with only the black tendrils holding him back.

**That feels so good, Eddie!**

He heard the purr in Venom’s voice, as he kept moving and bringing both of them closer to the edge.

It had been a long time since Eddie had done this. He already knew he couldn't last long and both of them didn't feel like dragging it out.

A rush of pleasure washed over him, almost drowning him. He cried out Venom's name as he came and then fell back onto to the covers, breathing heavily, feeling like he would black out any minute.

He needed a minute to recover, feeling dizzy and exhausted, but mostly completely sated and happy.

Venom curled himself up on Eddie's rapidly rising chest, again in the form of that cute black snake, watching him all lazy and relaxed.

As Eddie slowly calmed down, he lifted his hand and patted him softly.

“That was…” 

**Amazing.**

“Yeah. It was.”

Eddie smiled in bliss and felt his heart rate return to normal. He would have loved to go again, but he knew they were both well sated for the moment. There was no need to rush things. 

**Eddie?**

“Yes, V?”

**We are hungry.**

A small laugh left Eddie as he nodded. He noticed that Venom had somehow cleaned him up already.

“Of course you are. Let's see what we have for you.”

Eddie got up and his knees wobbled a bit until Venom steadied him. He picked up his boxers and dressed himself before picking out a big package of liver for Venom and tater tots for himself.

While they baked in his small oven, he opened the package for Venom and put it on the plate Venom always used.

Instead of devouring it immediately, he found the symbiote in front of the oven window, watching the potato balls.

“What's up, V?” He asked and sat down in front of the oven, watching as Venom absently lowered his head on his shoulder while keeping his eyes on the food in the oven.

“Earth to V, are you listening?”

**What are those?**

“That? Tater tots. Do you want to try some?”

**Yes!**

Venom leaped forward like a predator, ready to kill his prey, dangerous and fast, but unfortunately the oven glass was stronger.

The symbiote hit it and Eddie felt it biting its tongue, as it crashed into the oven and slid down the oven door in the floor.

Eddie felt the headache, like he had hit the door himself but still he couldn't stop laughing.

“Oh God, are you okay?”

He took the black puddle in his hands and lifted him up, pressing him to his chest, kissing him softly. The symbiote growled and looked at the window again.

“Careful, they are not ready yet…”

Venom curled around his neck like a scarf and waited.

When they were finished, Eddie had to keep his symbiote out if the oven but as soon as the alien felt the heat, he retreated hissing and pulled his host back a few steps with him.

“Whoa hey! What's happening?”

**Fire! It hurts us. Fire and certain sounds.**

“Oh… I understand! But don't worry, please, I have oven gloves, just make sure you don't touch anything.”

He took out the tater tots from the slightly cooler oven and set them on a plate. Eddie sat back down on the bed, pulling the covers over his shoulders, while Venom grabbed the remote control.

They ate in peace, watching some Disney movie and eating their dinner. Venom ended up eating nearly all of the tater tots himself, but his host let him. It didn't matter which of them did it, as long as Eddie could eat a few for the awesome taste.

One of Venom’s tendrils set the empty plates on the desk before he snuggled to Eddie, forming something like a human upper body, hugging him tight and rubbing his back, while they watched the movie.

Eventually Eddie felt asleep cuddled next to Venom’s chest. 

Eddie truly believed he could not possibly feel any happier than in this very moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There you go! Let me know what you think!


	7. Seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Small cameo of our favourite friendly neighbourhood spider

The next morning Eddie woke up, feeling the warm body next to his stomach. As usual, Venom had manipulated his arms to hold him tight. 

**Good morning, Eddie.**

Venom greeted him and released his arms, but instead of stretching, Eddie gave him a squeeze and a kiss on top of his head. 

When he opened his eyes, he was met with a bright light coming from his phone.

“Good morning, V. What are you doing?”

The symbiote didn't answer, but the boy smiled when he saw the symbiote concentrating on high scoring in one of his mobile games.

**We discovered this… you called it a “mobile game?” We saw it in your memory and it seemed entertaining.**

“Oh, okay? Be my guest, I guess? Wow you are pretty good already!”

He didn’t mind Venom playing his games, especially if they could keep Venom entertained overnight, but he also discovered a few nonsense messages he had sent to Dan too. He typed a fast ‘Sorry, I fell asleep on my phone’ and then squeezed Venom once more, before the symbiote sank back into his body and he got up for his morning routine.

They made themselves ready for class and went to the old fountain at the school yard. 

It had become a ritual every morning that the small group met before classes. Today neither Flash nor Dan and Annie were waiting there, but it seemed Eddie was just really early for once.

“Eddie! Hey, I wanted to talk to you, are you free now?”

Eddie turned around as he heard his name and smiled. They didn’t talk very often, but he kind of liked this guy.

“Good morning, Peter! How are you? I'm free. Something happening?”

Peter Parker was a photographer for the students’ newspaper club Eddie was writing for, and he already had a job at a big publisher because he got dealt a lucky hand in taking good pictures of Spider-Man.

**This boy… He is different from other humans. He feels strange...**

“Rick just talked to me. He is preparing the new issue for next week already and wants both of us for a big article about the football team. He said he definitely wants you to write it.”

“Oh… uh, are you sure? What should it be about?” Eddie asked, ignoring the strange feeling Venom had about Peter.

“Just about the match tonight. If they win they will move a league up, and Flash requested a bit of promotion to raise the whole teams chance’s for sport scholarships.”

“Sure! Let's meet an hour before the match. Maybe we can get an interview or two with the trainer and the team.”

They agreed on a meeting place, and Peter went on to his next class. Eddie only waited a short time before Flash and Dan collected him for breakfast. Annie had a morning class and would meet them at lunch.

“Thanks, Thompson. Peter just told me you want another article from me. I didn't know you were so keen on a sequel.”

“Not so cocky, Brock. I hope you won't write about how our star players were doing drugs and getting their girls drunk.”

“Nah, twice would be boring. They learned their lesson, and so did I. Can you manage an interview with some of your team without me ending up in a locker?”

“Sure thing!”

A few hours later, he was standing in the team’s changing room, waiting for the guys to come back from their warm up training. The air was smelly, sweaty and thick.

**Smells like our room, after we-**

“V! I- ... just- ah! Don't!” Eddie nearly choked and tried not to blush too hard. He knew exactly what Venom was trying to say.

After their first time last evening, Eddie had learned that Venom not only enjoyed the same pleasure, but that the hormones that shot through his body during an orgasm also provided his symbiote with nourishment. 

**You are delicious, Eddie.**

He heard a few guys talking and cleared his throat and took a deep breath. Hopefully, he wouldn't end up beaten up inside of a locker. 

“Oh! Brock!” One guy shouted and grinned like an idiot. Eddie could clearly remember him dislocating his shoulder pretty much half a year ago.

**Should we eat him?**

//We don't eat people… you promised.//

He felt the symbiote shift uncomfortably inside of him, like he was feeling bad for eating that one guy last time. Probably not for the act itself but for triggering a panic attack.

**We don't want you to feel bad.**

Eddie nodded at that, and the guy who had greeted him saw it as an invitation to throw his arm around Eddie's neck in an uncomfortable headlock.

The journalist struggled against him, and where he formerly had hated to feel so weak, not being able to free himself, he now had to work against this urge, because with the strength Venom gave him, he would probably hurt one of the star players right before an important game.

“Hey, easy boy. He is here to interview us. I thought I told you.” Flash stepped in and patted Eddie's back as soon as the idiot had removed his sweaty arm.

The quarterback rested a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it a bit. After the last few days, Eddie didn't feel uncomfortable next to Flash anymore, but still he tensed a little bit. 

After all, they were in Flash's territory now, and Eddie didn't fully trust that the blond wouldn't try to show off in front of his team by making fun of him again.

Instead, the quarterback called out a few names and asked them to be nice to Eddie. 

The interviews went surprisingly well, and after a while Peter joined them and asked to take a few pictures. Eddie watched with interest how he guided the poses so that the pictures would look flattering but not fake.

When they were done, he collected his notes and went to Flash who was talking to their coach.

“Excuse me? Uhm, I'm finished, I just wanted to let you know and to thank you again.”

“Huh? Brock are you kidding? Didn't I tell you yet? I organised tickets for you and the rest. Annie and Dan want to meet us in ten minutes.”

“Flash, but… I don't really know much about-”

“What? Football?” He laughed and clapped a hand a bit too hard on his back, nearly pushing him off his feet.

“Just watch and enjoy it! I wanna go out for dinner with the three of you after! Just say yes.”

Ten minutes later Eddie and Flash were with the whole group. They got their tickets and amazing seats right behind the team’s bench. It was an awesome game, and Eddie couldn’t wait to see the pictures Peter had taken. One time, the boy nearly got hit by the ball or whatever it was called. 

**It’s called a football, Eddie. Your lack of knowledge is alarming.**

//Well thank you. I find it more alarming how many hot dogs you made me eat.//

**We are hungry. We can’t help it.**

Eddie sighed and stretched a bit as they walked down the field to meet Flash, who had just gotten out of the changing room.

“Great game, eh?” Flash grinned and looked at his smartphone. “It’s a bit early but we could go to the restaurant already. I’m sure they don’t mind.”   
  
“Restaurant? Flash-” Eddie was not poor, but he didn’t have a lot of money, either. And he needed everything he had to feed his symbiote. 

**Sorry...**

“Nah don't worry! I eat for free there.” Flash boasted and Annie nodded as well.

“Sounds nice! Thank you for organising that, Flash.”

**Why are you hesitating? Food!!**

With Annie agreeing and Venom being this excited as well, he couldn't say no.

The restaurant seemed way too expensive, but he was lucky. It was an all-you-can-eat buffet, so he wouldn't have to worry about overeating. Instead, Flash and Eddie got into a strange competition over who could eat more. 

When they finished and Flash had inconspicuously paid their bill, they left and decided to walk the distance back to the dorm. 

“Oh God, I'm so full,” Annie said, laughing, and Dan agreed.

“We should go jogging tomorrow morning or else we will get fat,” Flash said, and nudged Eddie with his elbow.

**Won't get fat. I will care for you.**

“Sure, let's do that. But I'm not really sporty; you might have to carry me back halfway.”

**We will carry Flash back! We are faster and stronger.**

Eddie chuckled, and while Dan and Annie just shared an confused look, Flash grinned, knowing that the symbiote was much more competitive than his host.

//Venom, you know I can feel how full you are, right?//

The symbiote shifted a little and Eddie could feel his struggle. He never thought it was possible to have the symbiote that sated.

When they were walking along the road through the forest, they talked about the game and Flash explained a few things about football.

“I can't believe you two don't know anything about football.” Annie laughed at her boyfriend and best friend, hooking her arm in Dan's, cuddling tight against him. 

It was weird, Eddie thought, how he would have felt a tight stab in his chest seeing this weeks ago, and now? He was  comfortable walking next to the couple and secretly holding hands with his symbiote. 

**Danger, Eddie.**

The boy was a bit confused, feeling how the symbiote let go of his hand and instead forced his body to stand still. 

“Eddie? What’s wrong?” Annie laughed, turning around towards him.

“I… don’t know. I have a bad feeling suddenly.” It wasn’t even a lie; something was off.

Venom took over his body and forced him to look to the right. Eddie could see a weird reflection of light next to a tree there, but it was hard to tell in the darkness. Suddenly it felt like the temperature around him dropped a few degrees, and he could feel goosebumps crawling along his skin.

“Freeze! Let me see your hands.” 

Alarmed, all of them stood still and looked around, and Eddie finally saw a lot of armed men all around them.

“Thought they learned their lesson,” Flash said, and Eddie nodded. Fighting those men surely wouldn’t be a problem for Venom, but now they were with their friends. He didn’t want any of them hurt, and he certainly couldn't protect all of them if those mercenaries were to take hostages.

“What do you want?” Eddie asked, looking at the guy who was the closest. The bald guy looked a little too sure of himself in his leather jacket. He was not even armed, but he seemed to be the leader of this operation.

“Mr. Carlton demands his property back. We only want to collect that thing. You can keep your pathetic little lives.”

**We won’t go back.**

“You can’t have him. Sorry.” Eddie answered and felt all the fighting spirit he never had, filling every pore. He could feel the fear inside of his friend whenever the symbiote was reminded of the research facility where he had been nothing but the object of experimentation.

“I’m afraid you don’t have a choice.” The guy held one hand up and suddenly Eddie’s chest was covered in red dots of the guns pointing at him.

Before he could think about how to react, everything went black as Venom covered him completely. Eddie heard Annie’s muffled scream and Flash trying to cover their friends, shoving them away, when Venom growled loudly and caught all the bullets.

He immediately jumped forward, taking a few guys out that were heading after to Eddie’s friends and then wound himself around Eddie’s arms to throw five guys off their feet. 

Blinded by his rage, he went for a lethal hit against one mercenary with his huge claw, but before he could rip his chest apart, he felt someone stopping him.

“STOP!” Annie had grabbed him and now hung on his arm, as he halted in his tracks.

“Eddie wouldn’t want you to kill anyone!” she shouted, and Venom knew she was right. He growled lowly and lowered his arm, until she stood on the ground again.

**“Go back. Eddie wants you safe.”**

Before she could even answer, Flash pulled her back with his arm, out of the way. 

When Venom turned around, he roared loudly and bared his awfully long teeth, aiming to intimidate the mercenaries. He couldn’t kill them, but he needed to get rid of them anyway if he wanted to protect his host and his friends.

He leaped to attack a group of snipers who aimed at him when suddenly an awful loud noise stopped him in his tracks. The symbiote and his host screamed in agony, backing off from the sound, but it did not stop. 

Eddie could feel something ripping his body apart, and his vision was black and white at the same time. 

“NOW SHOOT!” The leader shouted, and Eddie realised that his body no longer was fully covered by Venom’s mass. The sound got louder only to be disturbed by gun shots. 

Three bullets dug their way into his shoulder, chest, and torso, before he ultimately felt himself being ripped apart, watching a black gooey mass landing on a tree next to them.

He fell to his knees and felt nothing and everything simultaneously.

His body went horribly cold, and the taste of iron filled his mouth as he was not able to breathe anymore. The pain was so overwhelming he couldn’t think straight.

“Venom...” He panted and stretched a hand out, as if he could reach the symbiote with pure willpower, but instead he just fell to the ground, as the world went black.

\--

Venom was thrown against the tree, as he and his host got separated by the sonic weapon. Still paralysed by the sound, he could only watch Eddie fall down.

**Eddie! No! Eddie!**

No one could hear him. He felt empty, scared, and lonely. One of the mercenaries scooped him up into one of the glass containers. The last thing Venom saw was the lifeless body of his former host. 

This was all his fault, for not protecting Eddie. 

  
Eddie was dead because of  _ him _ .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...
> 
>  
> 
> If you (still) want to get in touch with me other than Ao3 please feel free to write me 
> 
> Twitter: @_Thunderdaddy  
> Instagram: EiichiCosplay


	8. Eight

[Dan's POV]

 

The scene went silent as the mercenaries went away, taking the container with whatever that thing was with them. Dan didn’t really understand what had just happened, but he knew he had to act fast.

Eddie had been shot and severely injured, but he could see that he was still breathing. He ran to his friend and dropped to his knees right next to him.

“Eddie! Pal, can you hear me? Wake up…”

Flash appeared next to Dan and grabbed Eddie’s arm, about to turn him over. “Wait… First, I have to check…” Dan didn’t finish the sentence because he was concentrating on lifting Eddie’s hoodie.

Carefully, he looked at the skin, feeling it with his fingers as well because it was too dark to be sure by sight alone. No exit wound. That meant the bullets were still inside. Not good, but at least they would help block the artery and minimise the bleeding.

“Now, help me to turn him around. But slowly.” He and Flash turned Eddie onto his back, while Flash held Eddie’s head, trying to wake him up.

Dan had never seen anyone this pale and weak.

“What are we going to do now? Dan, he is dying,” Annie said, still shocked and close to tears. She was right, Eddie was not in  good shape. They needed to help him fast, but an ambulance would take too long and the hospital was too far away.

“Flash, can you carry him? We need to get him back to campus. The hospital is too far away.” It might have been an awful idea but he needed to try and help his friend.

Flash took the nearly lifeless body into his arms and they ran back to the campus as fast as they could. Dan had a key to the medical laboratory, where he ordered Flash to put him on one of the treatment chairs. Usually, they were only used for practice by their professor, but the equipment was the same as in any hospital. Maybe a little better because it was all cutting edge and not used every day. They quickly removed Eddie’s hoodie and he instructed Flash in assisting him while Annie called an ambulance.

First they cleaned the wound as well as they could, so Dan could see the damage a bit better. He didn’t have much practice with this kind of surgery himself, but he knew a lot about the principles of damage control surgeries from his studies. On the experimental lab he had performed similar surgeries almost a hundred times.

“What was the thing that came out of him?” Annie finally gave voice to what she and Dan had wondered about the whole time.

Flash hesitated before he answered. “That was Venom.” He told the two of them everything he knew about the alien, how it was with Eddie and making him hungry all the time. But also how protective the symbiote had been over his host. “That thing was definitely his friend.”

“So when he was acting weird, like smiling for no reason, that was…”

“Venom talking to him, yeah.”

About half an hour later the ambulance finally arrived and took Eddie away. Dan had been able to remove the bullets in the meantime and stop the bleeding, but his friend remained unconscious. Fortunately, no vital organs had been damaged by the bullets, but he had lost a lot of blood.

\--

[Dan’s POV]

 

Despite the lack of danger, Eddie looked worse than ever a week later. The group visited him daily, staying with him as long as the nurse would allow it. Eddie had been barely talking and the nurse had to watch him take his meds and eat his food because he ‘did not feel like eating’.

Most of the time when they visited him he was either sleeping or writing articles. Dan had learned from the newspaper club that Eddie actually had sent a few more than 10 files, and all of those in the first three days. And that they all were so great he had problems choosing which ones to publish. The only one he would talk a little to was Flash, but only because the quarterback took the notebook away as soon as he was in the room.

If Dan didn’t know better, he would have diagnosed him with a depression or anxiety. However, apart from that one time he had found him in a panic attack, Eddie had never shown any signs of those illnesses. The three of them could completely understand that Eddie was mourning his friend. Dan could not relate to having an alien live in your body and then losing it and being shot, but surely anyone would be upset.

Today they were finally allowed to take Eddie home with them and even if Flash and Annie wanted to take him in with them immediately, Dan thought it was the best idea to let him recover in his own dorm room. They had agreed on staying with him at least for the first few days so Eddie would not mourning alone. Eddie had not shown any emotion when they were around but Dan was sure that the emotional pain cut deeper than any of them could understand.

Flash helped him out of the taxi and steadied him on the way to the dorm because he was still a little weak on his feet. Dan thought a lot about it. Even if Eddie was mourning and still recovering from his injuries, with the care and medical help provided he should have looked a lot better by now.

“Here we go! Home sweet home, eh?” Flash beamed and opened the door with Eddie's keys.

There was not more than a bored ‘mm-hmm' that came from Eddie, as he pulled his arm off of Flash’s shoulders.

“Thanks. ‘M tired now… I’m fine.,” Eddie mumbled, as he dropped on the bed, letting his bag slide next to the furniture. His standoffish body language indicated they should leave..

“Yeah, not having it, Ed. We’re staying here tonight,” Flash insisted, but the boy on the bed looked totally unimpressed.

“The three of you in my tiny room? What, are you planning to sleep on the floor or have a weird cuddle party on my bed?”

“I’m sure we would totally fit in your bed.” Flash answered and crossed his arms. He really tried to be understanding but the quarterback had always been rather impatient.

Eddie just sighed. “Whatever.” He opened his backpack and got his notebook out, before delving into the stuffed bag for his charging cable. It was so sad that this was actually the most Eddie had spoken for the last few days, Dan thought, and nodded.

“We will figure something out. Is it okay if I use the bathroom?”

Eddie didn’t answer but he looked at him as if he wanted to say ‘What else do you want to do? Go in the bushes?’

\--

[Annie’s POV]

 

Annie sat on the desk chair and smiled sadly, putting one hand on Eddie’s knee.

“I know you are sad, but it is going to be alright, okay?” She still did not really understand what Venom was, but she understood that it was an important friend to Eddie. But as always, when they tried to speak with him about the alien, he just turned away, closing up completely.

“Eddie… Hey, how about we order some pizza? I bet you are starving after that awful hospital food.” Flash smiled and dropped next to Eddie on the bed. He put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it a bit.

An uncomfortable shift from his friend was the only reaction he got. Annie knew that Eddie had no problem at all with being touched by his friends but over the last week he had cringed at anyone coming close to him. It made her so sad because she knew how much Eddie usually craved hugs and such even if he would never say it. And Flash had been physical enough with Eddie to the point where she and Dan had thought that maybe they were in a relationship.

Now he obviously hated all the attention he got, probably wishing they would just leave him alone.

“Eddie!!!” Annie and Flash looked up to find Dan, who had just come out of the bathroom, actually looking kind of angry. She had never seen him this upset ever.

“What happened, Dan?”

\--

[Dan’s POV]

 

“Annie, Flash… would you mind leaving us alone for a minute?” Dan bit his lip and tried to breathe calmly.

“Uh sure… we get some dinner for us…” Both of them left and Dan turned around to his friend. He couldn’t believe it! Here he was wondering why Eddie wasn’t getting any better and worrying that he had made some mistake that night, nly to find out that Eddie actually did not want to get better?

“Why didn’t you tell me? I understand you wouldn't shout it all over the campus, but seriously? Those are heavy meds and you did not take them for a week!” He threw the box of antidepressants on the bed next to Eddie and saw that his friend actually looked kind of guilty. He had wondered at the orange med-box on the sink was and checked the label. He immediately recognised them as very strong antidepressants.

No wonder Eddie was not feeling better, and was instead spiraling deeper and deeper into depression. The label said he needed to take them once a day and he had not used them for a whole week!

Instead of answering, the boy only turned back to his notebook, shifting himself on the bed until he could lean on the wall behind him. Still, something about his posture was even more tense now. He did not even look up once.

“Eddie! I’m serious! At least look at me!” Dan nearly shouted now. He knew that he would not get anywhere being all kind and understanding now. Eddie would probably not even hear him in this state. The shouting was a small success because Eddie twitched and stopped typing.

“Why should it matter if I take them? I lost him, Dan.”

Frustrated, Dan looked to the ceiling and prayed for patience. At least Eddie had answered.

“I know… But you are suffering more than necessary. You are punishing yourself for something you had absolutely no control over.”

“I’m not.”

“Eddie, please. You need to heal. And your body can not heal when you refuse to take your meds. Venom would not want you to suffer like this.”

Finally, Eddie looked up from whatever article he was writing, and Dan could not stay mad at him. The look in Eddie’s eyes was utterly broken and hopeless. Empty.

“How… can I go on like before? Without Venom- I… Without him I wouldn’t even be alive...”

Dan had no idea what Eddie meant but the implications were terrifying. He was scared to ask, but he had to know.

“What… are you talking about?”

Suddenly Eddie was on the edge of tears and that was the most emotion Dan had seen for a week. He sat next to him and wrapped his arms around Eddie’s shoulders, as his crying friend just sank against him.

“I- I didn’t know what to do. But he stopped me. He saved me.”

So it was true. Eddie had actually tried to kill himself? That was news. And it was horrible that he never even guessed it before. Of course Eddie had had a hard time because of Flash but thinking about suicide? Actually trying to go through with it?

He should have been more attentive to his friend’s suffering.

“Dan… I want him back. He was so scared. I could feel how much pain those people caused him.” Eddie sobbed and clung to Dan.

“Eddie… He is not dead. We know where he is. Maybe-” Dan could not believe he would offer such an idea, but what Eddie needed most now was hope. “Maybe we can get him back? Somehow… ?” Eddie looked up a spark of hope in his eyes.. “Yes… Yes, that's-”

\--

“An awful idea!” Annie said the moment Dan and Eddie explained it a little later when she and Flash came back with two large pizzas.

Dan and Eddie had sat on the bed when they had come back, Dan hugging the other boy and rubbing his back a bit, until Eddie had managed to calm down completely again.

“That is literally a suicide mission, did you see how heavily armed those guys where?”

Eddie looked to the side and nodded. “You are right,” he said, but it did not sound as hopeless as she would have guessed. Instead there was finally some life back in Eddie, when he sat down with them and they ate the pizza.

\--

[Eddie’s POV]

 

They managed to bring another mattress to Eddie’s room for the evening and because Eddie had insisted that Annie should sleep on the bed. He shared the floor-mattress with Flash while Dan and Annie shared his bed.

As if this couldn't get any stranger, as soon as everyone was asleep and Eddie lay on his back, wide awake, Flash turned around and threw one arm around him, hugging Eddie like a teddy bear. Gross…

But at least Flash smelled nice and he was a good hugger. Not nearly as good as Venom, but it made him feel less lonely. He missed Venom so much. It was true, without Venom he probably would have died in that forest in what felt like months ago. If not then, then he would have died the next morning by his own hand.

Said hand wandered down to the largest bullet wound, then wandered up over the other two. Strange to think that he wanted to kill himself with the same weapon that had injured him now.

It was definitely not fun being hit by a bullet or three. Would he have felt its bite if he had shot himself in the head? Would he have died instantly or would he have been left slowly bleeding out? Venom surely would have healed his wounds by now and mocked him for being an easy target because his human movements were so slow.

Eddie bit his lip and closed his eyes, thought about how Venom would hold him close and sometimes whisper things to him when Eddie tried to sleep. He had never understood it, but the feeling that came from Venom along with his words made Eddie feel loved and appreciated.

He missed being close to the symbiote who knew everything that was wrong with him. Knew about his illness and his twisted brain and had still accepted him. He missed the feeling of Venom moving inside of him, curling around his organs and commenting on everything and everyone. He even missed his ever present hunger.

But what he had said to Dan being overwhelmed by all his emotions and breakdowns was true. Without Venom he could not go on. 

It was probably unhealthy to tie his will to live to another person, but this was the last straw. His time with Venom had been the first in forever where he had enjoyed his life. Annie was right. Breaking into the research facility was way to dangerous. He did not want any of his friends being injured.

But that did not mean he cared about himself being wounded or killed. Without Venom he would die anyway.

He waited a little longer, relaxed now that the meds that Dan had given him earlier eased his nerves. Flash mumbled something and then stretched and turned in his sleep again, nearly pushing Eddie from the mattress. Good.

He slipped out from under the covers, and grabbed his pants and shoes next to the mattress and his cellphone. If everything went well he would be back before anyone noticed he was missing. And if it didn’t go well then he probably would not be around to care anyway.

He snuck to the door, opened it without any sound, but when he wanted to slip through it, someone grabbed his arm. Before he was able to protest, he was pushed outside by a bulk of muscles and the door was closed behind them. “I’m not going to let you go there alone, idiot,” Flash whispered and put his jacket on.

Eddie was stunned. “Did you sleep in your jeans? How-” “Shut up and get dressed before Dan or Annie wakes up. He dressed himself as fast as he could in the cold corridor and they left the building before they could wake anyone else.

“Do you realise how clingy you are when you sleep?” Eddie asked, and he  swore Flash was blushing a little!

“A-anyway! What’s the plan?” Flash asked, and looked at him,smiling at being able to change the subject so easily.

“Well, freeing Venom and not dying, I guess?”

“Great plan.” Flash said it like he meant it, too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the awful cliffhanger in chapter 7  
> I hope you can forgive me <3
> 
> Also you might have noticed, that I turned this into a series  
> When I finished the last chapter, I was not quite ready to let the AU go and somehow I accidently wrote 4 one-shots >///>
> 
> Right now they are awaiting Beta from my awesome friend <3
> 
> If you want to get in touch with me other than Ao3 please feel free to write me 
> 
> Twitter: @_Thunderdaddy  
> Instagram: EiichiCosplay


	9. Nine

Eddie could not believe how lucky they were. They were able to get to the facility’s fence without being noticed by the guards and they even found a small hole where even Flash would fit through.

They crawled through and then stayed down, avoiding being seen by some guards. The whole facility was guarded like some military place but it was late at night and the men seemed to be tired and not really paying attention.

Getting inside of the building was easy peasy but as soon as they were inside, Eddie realised he had no idea how to find Venom. This place was huge!

They searched for nearly half an hour, then he saw a person he knew already. Carlton Drake, the head of the Life Foundation. He had appeared tacky to Eddie the first time he had seen him on television and no matter how much he claimed to do good, Eddie did not trust him.

Seeing him in this facility only made it clearer that he was actually not the Good Samaritan he wanted everyone to believe he was. Whatever business he had there, it was surely connected to Venom. He made a silent sign to Flash that they should follow that guy and the quarterback nodded.

Someone as important as Drake wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for something big. And what could probably be bigger than an alien? Soon, they reached a wide room with a lot of technical instruments that Eddie couldn’t even name if he had to. He had never seen anything like this.

In the middle of the big white room there was a glass case that reached up to the ceiling and on a table right in the center of the glass case there was the container with Venom inside. Eddie’s eyes went wide and he would have gone for it if Flash wouldn’t have stopped him with an arm around the waist.

“Don’t be silly! Let’s wait a bit more,” Flash whispered and Eddie nodded. He knew his friend was right, they couldn’t simply jump inside. He would be shot before he reached Venom.

“How is my investment doing?” Drake asked and one of the guys in lab coats gave him a tablet and then whispered something in his ear. He simply nodded and walked circles around the glass cage.

“Good work. Let’s continue tomorrow.”

That was exactly what Eddie had been hoping for. It did not occur him that this was a weird coincidence.

In time the room was empty and the lights went off. Good. Flash made him wait a little longer but when they were sure no one else would be around they silently approached the glass cage. The black fluid inside of the container went from not moving at all to basically vibrating in the small room as he saw Eddie.

“Venom! We’ll get you out of there, don’t worry!” Eddie said, even though he could not tell whether Venom could hear him. He searched for a way inside that glass cage.

“There must be some way in…”

“Yeah, step aside,” Flash said, and when Eddie turned around, he barely jumped to the side in time to avoid the quarterback smashing a chair into the glass wall. Louder than intended the glass shattered to the floor and Eddie grabbed the container that held Venom. But before he could think about how to open it, Flash cursed behind him.

When he looked up he saw right into the eyes of Carlton Drake who stood in the middle of a squadron of guards surrounding the intruders. Eddie was not keen on being shot again, but he was determined to free Venom.

“Did you really think you could just break in here and steal my property again? Now, hands up, or do you want to catch another bullet?”

Flash let out a deep growl behind him but he complied and held his hands up.

“Sure…”

Slowly Eddie raised his hands, but as soon as he saw Drake’s smug smile, he let go of the container.

“NOO!” Drake screamed and leapt forward to catch it, but the glass shattered on the floor and before the first bullet could hit them, the black mass that was Venom covered Eddie and Flash completely, protecting them from all damage. The next moment felt like time was standing still. Eddie felt the cold rush of Venom sinking back into his body, felt the symbiote’s emotions.

**Eddie! You are alive! You came! For... us?  
**

“Of course I did! You are my best friend and I-”

“Sorry to interrupt you, but can we get out of here first?” Flash sounded out of breath behind them.

A loud noise caught Eddie’s attention and he saw the chair that had shattered Venom’s prison now hit a few guards. “Now, how about you show some teeth, eh?” Flash asked as he grinned and looked around - probably for the next furniture to throw.

Flash was right. Venom oozed out of his skin and covered him completely until it was only Venom to be seen. The alien growled deep and made himself ready to attack the guards but Drake held up a hand and stopped them from further attacks.

“A perfect symbiosis. Beautiful.”

//Careful! We can not let them hit us with sonic weapons again//

**They won’t as long as Drake is here. It would hurt him as well.**

As if to prove Venom was right, suddenly Drake’s form changed into that of an ugly strange beast.

**“Riot… You...”**

The greyish symbiote growled and took a step forward and Eddie could feel the fear emanating from his own symbiote.

 **“Venom! You found a fitting host. That’s good. Now help me-”** **  
**

**“We won’t help you! We don’t follow you anymore!”**

Riot roared at that and his massive claw hit him with pure strength, sending Venom crashing into the next wall. The grey symbiote stepped forward and made an attempt to attack Flash as well, but Venom was on his feet fast enough to protect his friend.

 **“Out of the way, Flash!”** Venom growled, as he managed to get hold of Riot, scratch his claws over the grey chest.

The boy immediately tried to get out of the way, but the guards were still there. He fought them with all the power he had, tackling one and leaping for his gun. In the meantime Venom tried his best to fight Riot, but the black symbiote was not strong enough. He had not been able to feed properly over the last week and the experiments had harmed him too.

 **“Pathetic! Die!”** Riot roared and Venom could see that the next attack would be lethal.

But before he could try and dodge or minimise the damage they were both stopped in their tracks by an awful sound. Riot screamed loud and let go of them, winced away from the speakers. Not knowing what was happening, Venom cried in pain as he was ripped away from his host again. Flash immediately ran to the black beast and pulled his arm only to feel the black goo sloughing off Eddie’s arm.

“No! Nonono, Eddie, Venom, you need to get up!”

Eddie fell against Flash and felt Venom oozing out of his chest, tried to hold him close, when the sound stopped.

Venom was now spread between Eddie and Flash, trying to get a hold of whomever he could, but after the sonic attack he was too weak to bond with anyone. A loud growl came from the other side of the room as Riot had himself finished recovering.

“That’s not a good sound…” Flash mumbled and pushed Eddie behind him while holding out an arm in front of him protectively.

“Flash, are you kidding me?” How could the quarterback even attempt to shield him against a symbiote when not even Venom could stand against him?

**Eddie…**

The speakers crackled again but this time it was not the horrible sound again.

“Flash, Eddie! Get away from that thing! Run!” Annie shouted and before Eddie could even understand what was happening, Flash lifted him up around his middle with one arm and ran towards the exit--except before they could reach it, Riot grabbed Eddie’s foot and he fell to the floor.

**“Don’t think you can run, pathetic creature!”**

Suddenly, the whole room seemed to be on fire and exploded around them. Venom spread himself over Eddie and Flash to cover them. Even through their weak connection, Eddie could feel his pain.

“Venom! Stop!” Eddie screamed but Flash had been able to get back to his feet and pulled him away.

“No!! Venom!”

An explosion swallowed the black goo in front of him and blinded Eddie.

Blindly, he tried to grab the symbiote but his hand closed on empty air. The symbiote was gone.

Flash carried him with one arm around Eddie’s middle and as soon as they were outside, Annie and Dan were there as well.

Eddie could not believe he had lost his friend again. This was not possible. He was on the verge of another panic attack when Dan grabbed his shoulders and made sure to get his attention by softly shaking him.

“Oh my god! Are you okay?” Dan helped Eddie up as soon as Flash dropped to his knees.

“I’m fine... but how did you…”  
A few explosions from the building caused him to stop and look to the fire. The picture alone made him shy away, even if they were in a safe distance already.

No. These were not his instincts.

“Venom… Venom?”

He touched his chest and closed his eyes, listening carefully. He could feel him! Venom was still there! But he was weak and wounded.

“Is he okay?” Annie asked and sat on one knee next to him.

“Yes, I think he is. He needs time to recover.”

“Good. Then WHAT WERE YOU THINKING? EDDIE?” She screamed and slapped his face as hard as she could. When Eddie looked up in shock, he saw the tears flowing down her cheeks.

“I could not let him die here alone! He does not belong in a facility damned to be research specimen!”

Eddie saw that Annie was crying and suddenly understood that his actions had hurt his friends. He had always thought that it did not matter what would happen to him, but looking at the faces of the people around him he understood that this never had been true.

**They love you, Eddie.**

Eddie smiled and whispered a silent _thank you._

 

Flash pulled him into a tight hug and Annie and Dan came closer as well, holding Eddie tight. He closed his eyes and this time had no problem accepting their affection. When they heard sirens in the back, Flash was the first to react.

“We should go now!”

It took them longer than Eddie liked to get back to his room, he was still weak and hurt and Flash had probably broken his ankle.

**We can’t heal you but we try to take away the pain.**

“No, concentrate on recovering yourself, I’m fine.” His injuries were painful, but what was most important to him now was Venom’s health and wellbeing.

His voice was so tiny and weak inside of Eddie's head and he felt how hungry he was. As soon as they arrived at home, he opened the fridge and checked what he had inside. Nothing much as he was not there over the past week. Shit. He needed to help Venom heal! He panicked slightly.

“Eddie! Calm down, we have some pizza left and we can go to the store in the morning and buy all the chocolate for him, okay?” Flash put a hand on his shoulder and pulled him in for a hug to calm him down again. It worked surprisingly well and Eddie just leaned against the bulk of muscle in front of him, closed his eyes.

“Okay, Eddie. How about we warm up the pizza, so you can feed your… uhm… friend?” Annie suggested, and put a hand on his shoulder.

**“We like her, Eddie.”**

Venom had materialised himself in his small comic-snake form on his other shoulder, but he looked like he was melting. Obviously he was not strong enough to hold a shape.

Eddie lifted his hand and carefully cupped Venom. The symbiote happily crawled in his hands and let himself be lifted to his face, where Eddie tenderly kissed his head. Annie came closer and looked at the babyblob in his hands.

“Can I… touch it?”

**“Not an it.”**

Venom's tendrils curled around her fingers and she laughed, rubbing his head carefully with one finger.

“Sorry... Oh! So soft and squishy! B-but I won’t hurt you, right?”

The black mass materialised even bigger until Venom's head floated right next to them. Again he was rounder and softer than the intimitating form that Eddie loved so much.

**“Can’t hurt us.”**

Reassured by Venom she rubbed his head and cuddled him like she would do with a cute dog. Dan sat next to his girlfriend and watched the alien still a bit warily.

Flash brought them the pizza and sat down on the desk chair. He snatched a piece himself before he held out the box for them. Éddie took a slice of pizza but before he could eat it, Venom sank back into his other hand and came out of the one with the pizza, swallowing it whole.

“So you don’t like my lasagna but pizza is okay?” Flash laughed and took one piece and fed it to Eddie by hand while Venom was still chewing.

**“We don’t eat dead meat.”**

It felt so strange for Eddie to laugh again. His broken brain still tried to make him feel guilty but Venom blocked those voices in his head until they were nothing but a distant whisper.

The rest of the night they sat on the bed, all leaned up against one wall. Eddie sat between Flash and Dan and while Annie fell asleep on Dan’s shoulder, Dan leaned against Eddie who rested on Flash’s shoulder. It did not take long for Eddie to fall asleep himself with Venom still being too weak to move around a lot.

In the night, his host had cuddled closer to Flash, but Venom seeped out of his hand and grabbed it. The symbiote did not feel jealous of their friendship, he was simply happy that Flash would not hurt his Eddie anymore. But still he felt overly protective of his broken host.

It was in Venom’s nature to want his host to be in the best health possible and to that end he would always do whatever he could. His very survival depended on it, after all. But this, his desire to heal Eddie, was about so much more than that. He had realised this when he had to watch Eddie die, when he was not able to save him.

Venom loved this silly mess of a human more than anything and he wanted to make him happy.

He understood now that what was broken inside Eddie was nothing he could heal with his powers. Still, even though he might never be completely healthy, Venom would make sure that he would always feel loved and safe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only one more chapter left
> 
> Let me know what you think of this one~ I already finished a few One-Shots and honestly, already worked on a Sequel, where our poor Ed has to meet the Avengers~ Lemme know if you'd be interested to read about it
> 
> Lot's of love and the best of wishes for 2019
> 
> Eiichi
> 
> If you want to get in touch with me other than Ao3 please feel free to write me 
> 
> Twitter: @_Thunderdaddy  
> Instagram: EiichiCosplay


	10. Ten - Epilogue

When Eddie woke up, Venom was still holding his hand reassuringly tight.

**Good morning, Eddie.**

“Morning, V. Good to have you back,” Eddie mumbled, as he stretched his limbs a bit. 

Annie was awake and probably showering, while Dan was stretched out on Flash’s and his laps.

He looked so adorable drooling a bit on Flash’s knee.

“Psst Venom, can you reach my phone?”

**Certainly, Eddie.**

The symbiote reached to the nightstand and Eddie took a few pictures, grinning like a child.

“Dan, smile for the camera.” 

Flash who just had opened his eyes, pushed Dan up a bit with his knee. 

Eddie managed to take a gorgeous picture the second where Dan opened his eyes, looking adorably confused. “What the…? Did you draw on my face?”

Flash and Eddie looked at each other and burst into a loud laughter.

“No, but thanks for giving us the idea! Next time!”

Dan grumbled a bit and sat up, yawning loud, before he looked at the bathroom door where Annie had just got out. She was already dressed with still-wet hair.

“Oh darling, did they mock you?”

“Only pictures, Annie, promise!” Eddie explained fast, actually a bit scared of her getting angry.

Annie laughed and held up her phone. “If yours are better than mine, please share.”

Dan pulled a pout and got up to hug and kiss her softly.

“Awwww so adorable!”  Flash cooed and Eddie added, “get a room.” They grinned at each other before getting up as well.

“You’ve got school again today! Now get out, I need to go shopping.”, Eddie said.

He still had the rest of the week off to recover and wanted to use that time to do just that. Annie and Dan agreed and said their goodbyes.

“I actually don’t have morning class today, I will go to the store with you,” Flash offered.

Eddie sighted. “No way. You are not gonna invite me again.”

“Smartass.” Flash grinned because he had planned exactly that and got dressed, going to the door. “You coming?”

**“Let him buy us all the chocolate.”**

“He heard that…”

**“We wanted him to hear.”**

Eddie could not argue with the both of them teaming up against him so he just got dressed as well and followed Flash to the store.

He actually grabbed all the chocolate he could find and found Flash in the refrigerated section where Eddie packed in some tater tots. The quarterback had grabbed a few pieces of raw meat and a heart shaped box of pralines.

He felt how Venom spread around his stomach and squeezed Eddie a bit. 

If Eddie didn’t know better because of their bond, he would have sworn Venom was jealous.

They paid and outside Flash took the chocolate box out of the shopping bag and gave the bag to Eddie.

“Thank you so much, Flash!”

“Nah, thank you! Now get home, I have something to do now.”

“Good luck with that. Who is the lucky person?”

Flash just grinned and looked at the box. 

“No idea what you mean, Brock. Now get lost before I make you.”

**Hurry, Eddie! Hungry!**

Eddie went back to his room with Venom curling around his body under his baggy clothes, taking his hand and giving him neverending hugs. 

When he got home the first thing he did was put away all the food before he began to open a few chocolates for Venom to eat. However, instead of eating them, the symbiote took the first one out of his hand with a long black tendril and pressed it against Eddie’s lips.

Confused, he opened his mouth and felt the chocolate slip inside right before his vision was filled with teeth and black as Venom leaned in to kiss him.

Eddie closed his eyes and slid his tongue against Venom’s as they shared the chocolate. Black tendrils curled around his shoulders, shoving him backwards against the wall.

He felt the black mass slide under his shirt, forming human hands that touched him over his stomach and chest.

**We are hungry, Eddie. We want you.**

Overwhelmed and a bit dazed, Eddie just nodded and watched as his hands opened his jacket at Venom’s command. He let Venom push his shirt over his head and smiled as it slid to the floor.

Venom immediately stopped his tracks as he saw the three bullet holes. He hadn’t had the strength to heal them until now, but seeing them showed him once more how close he had come to losing Eddie.

His head lowered and he licked the wounds carefully, using the strength he regained from the chocolate to heal them. 

“Wait, Venom.”

Eddie shoved him away a bit and looked into his eyes.

“Don’t heal them completely. I want a reminder.”

**A reminder of what?**

“Of how much it hurts being hit by a bullet. So I will never think about using one again.”

Venom looked into his eyes and felt how much this actually meant for Eddie. It was a promise to never hurt himself again. Even if it was against all his instincts to leave his host wounded, Venom leaned in and healed the wounds until there were only pink scars to be seen.

“Thank you.” Softly, Eddie stroked his fingers over Venom's face and pulled him in to kiss him again.

Then he took another piece of chocolate and shoved it into Venom’s mouth.

“But first you have to eat properly. Then we can do whatever we want, like we promised.” Eddie smiled at him and pulled him into a hug again, felt the heat of the symbiote against his body while he fed him yet more chocolate.

“I was so scared I’d never see you again.”

**We thought you died. We… we don’t want to lose you ever again!**

“I don’t want to lose you as well. Venom? I… I think I’m love with you.”

He felt a rush of happiness washing over his body and felt the symbiote pressing closer against his body until he nearly melted back into his skin.

**We love you too, Eddie.**

Venom made him take a few more bars of chocolate and moved him to the bed.

“You know my legs work perfectly fine, right Venom?” Eddie laughed and kissed the top of the symbiotes head that was still hanging down his arm like a pillow or a teddy bear.

**We want you to feel safe with us.**

“I do, Venom. Couldn’t feel safer.” 

He sat down on his bed and took his Venom-teddy in his lap, feeding him more chocolate. Slowly, he could feel Venom regaining his strength.

The voice in his head got louder again. It was not a weak whisper anymore, and the movements in his body felt more powerful.

But he also felt a different kind of hunger growing as well.

**Eddie…**

The purr in his head made him shiver and he finally understood how much Venom longed for him. This probably would not hurt, right? The symbiote had told him before that the chemicals his body released during orgasm were even better than those gained through eating chocolate or meat.

As their connection grew with Venom getting stronger, he suddenly felt how impatient the symbiote had been last night. How much he had wanted to touch Eddie and to make him feel good, and the fact he had only held back because he did not want to share this with any of Eddie’s friends..

Eddie smiled softly and curled his fingers around Venom’s mass, massaging him while the symbiote ate the last bits of chocolate.

**Our Eddie is perfect.**

Venom let out a audible purr and his mass grew again.

While he was not as heavy as his muscular body would suggest, Eddie still felt the pressure of his weight. 

The Symbiote’s long tongue caressed his cheek and Venom shaped himself to look more human.

“You don't have to do this for me. I love you just the way you are. You don't need to be or feel human for me.”

He could feel the alien’s surprise through their bond, but it was true. Eddie was absolutely comfortable with Venom, no matter if he decided to be a black puddle or form a solid body of any kind.

**We love you so much, our Eddie.**

Venom seemed eager to continue right where Eddie had stopped them earlier and leaned forward to kiss him.

**We want to make you feel good. Is that okay?**

Eddie laughed because Venom was right in his mind, feeling how consent his host was with the whole touching and kissing thing and yet still asking.

**Not only touching and kissing.**

“Oh.” 

Mild surprise showed on Eddie's face, but he had to admit that he didn't mind going further at all. 

“Of course that’s okay… You do not need to ask, I told you that I trust you.”

It was not his first time but with every partner before it had felt more like a necessary chore. Like scratching an itch. 

He had never felt true desire for any of his partners in a physical way, other than enjoying the praise and being near someone who would enjoy his company.

It had made him feel appreciated.

But Eddie realised that his relationship with Venom was different. He desired the symbiote as much as the symbiote wanted him.

After their first sweet time together he had thought about it a lot.

**We don't want to rush you.**

“You know I don't feel rushed, silly.”

Venom cleared the bed of any leftover chocolate wrappers with a swipe of his black tendril and pushed Eddie back to lie on his back.

Excitement washed over the boy and he was not sure anymore from whom it came. Their emotions mixed together, building a perfect symbiosis and synchronicity.

The symbiote arose his stomach and spread over him, pushing him down with his weight while his head floated over him. It felt like Venom was hugging him, but with his whole body. Eddie snuggled closer into Venom’s warmth and smiled. 

He leaned in a kiss Venom with a soft moan and felt Venom’s tongue sliding down his throat a little.

The symbiote had gotten so much better at telling when it was just too much tongue in his mouth.

At the same time he could feel Venom forming two claws that caressed his upper body just the way Venom knew he liked it. 

The symbiote let his tongue slide out of Eddie's mouth and licked from his chin to his ear, tasting the sweat that formed on the pink skin. His cock was getting harder and he could feel it dripping with precome.

**You are so beautiful, Eddie.**

Eddie was already out of breath and he blushed at the statement, trying to look away but Venom did not let him get away.

**The most perfect host. We love you so much.**

“Venom… I love you too.”

He hugged the black mass on top of him and pulled him closer by what resembled Venom’s shoulders. His hips moved a bit until Eddie felt the fabric of his shorts rubbing him just right.

Slowly, the black mass spread lower and Venom’s hands were sliding down his pants, lifting his butt and massaging Eddie's cheeks briefly before he ripped his pants down and lifted Eddie’s legs a bit to get in between them..

Eddie moaned at the touch. He had always been sensitive and Venom surely knew how to hit all the right spots. It was amazing lying under Venom’s huge body and being pressed softly down into the mattress. He knew how powerful Venom was yet the symbiote treated him like the most fragile flower.

He touched every inch of the symbiote’s dark skin he could reach, hoping he would make Venom feel good as well. 

When he stroked Venom’s cheek, fingers touching the shiny long teeth, Venom pulled back a bit.

**We don’t want to hurt you.**

Venom seemed to remember the time when Eddie had been scared of his huge teeth, but there was no fear in him anymore.

“You can’t hurt me. Actually, I like them.”

**“So you like them? You know we can see what you are thinking right now?”**

Venom’s voice was no longer only in his head but he growled against his ear. Eddie chuckled and shoved him a bit away when he felt the teeth on his neck.

**“You do not need to act shy. We know you want us to bite you. You want to know how it feels.”**

Eddie lifted himself up and pulled Venom into another kiss, feeling Venom’s hands closing around his hips and holding him up.

“Yes, I’d love that. But if you do it randomly it will only hurt.”

Venom seemed to look through his memories and learned that Eddie loved it to be bitten in the neck when he was really aroused but if he wasn’t it would probably only hurt him.

The symbiote smirked a bit and licked Eddie’s ear again. The boy’s body was already beautifully flushed and he was panting hard. 

After avoiding Eddie’s cock the whole time, he now grabbed it with a black tendril and began to stroke it in a steady slow rhythm. The sounds his host made were so beautiful.

The same time one of his tendrils slowly made its way to Eddie’s entrance, carefully sliding inside and drawing an especially loud moan from him. “Oh god… V, that’s-”

His voice cut out when Venom’s tendril hit the bundle of nerves deep inside. Eddie moaned shamelessly, throwing his head back a bit. Eddie could feel every muscle, he did not even know was tense, relax and melt into Venom’s touch. 

The tendril was still thin and Venom moved carefully, preparing him thoroughly. Eddie closed his eyes and concentrated on relaxing; he knew it would make everything easier.

“D-do you feel that too?” Eddie was barely able to get out the  words. His whole body was reacting to the stimulation, moving in tandem with Venom.

**We do. It feels astonishing.**

Eddie nodded and his hands clawed the covers under him. 

After Venom made sure he was well prepared he leaned forward again and pulled Eddie into another deep kiss, lifting his back from the bed, holding him close to the black, warm alien mass wrapped around his back. Eddie clung to the symbiote’s neck and felt how the tendril inside him slipped out. 

He complained about the emptiness inside of him, when he felt something bigger pressing against him. Pushing himself away from the kiss, he could see the thick cock that Venom had formed between his legs. 

“O-oh wow… Venom, that thing is huge.” 

Eddie gasped and suddenly was not sure anymore. 

**We can take this.**

Venom pressed against his entrance and slowly the massive dick filled him completely right before it stopped in it’s movements, giving Eddie time to breathe.

“I… I’ve never felt so full,” Eddie whispered in awe. Surprisingly it did not even hurt, but he guessed that was Venom’s doing.

Slowly the alien began to move inside of him, first in a steady rhythm, before he began to aim for the bunch of nerves that collected deep inside of Eddie.

Eddie moaned Venom’s name loud and was suddenly overcome by a wave of possessiveness that came from the alien. Something raw and wild inside of the symbiote washed over both of them and Eddie felt how Venom pushed him back onto the mattress and moved faster.

It was an incredible feeling, being so completely overpowered but trusting his partner with his very being. 

**You are mine, Eddie.**

It was the first time Venom did not use ‘we’ and Eddie felt how much it meant. “Yes. Yours only.” He wheezed and clung to the symbiote who was fucking him into the mattress. 

“Oh God! Venom!” 

His arousal reached the edge and he could barely hold himself upright anymore, his whole body tensed but he was not yet there.

It was the sharp teeth that sank into his neck in this very moment that pushed him over the brink and made him come harder than he ever had before in his life..

He could swear his vision went white for a moment before he found himself being hugged closely by the symbiote, felt tiny kisses all over his face and neck.

“Don’t heal it yet.” Eddie whispered weakly as he felt the familiar tickle where Venom had bitten him. A short moment of worry and shame came from the symbiote over their bond before it was mixed with dawning realization.

**Another reminder?**

“If you don’t mind…”

Venom suddenly understood. Eddie knew he felt bad about hurting him, but he tried his best to let Venom know how proud he was of the marks.

Slowly he regained feeling in his limbs and he turned to one side, hugging the black mass next to him, exhaustion washing over him yet again. He closed his eyes and hummed in contentment, ready to fall asleep.

**We should shower.**

“Uh… please don’t make me get up now…”

**But…**

Venom seemed to think about it and suddenly he was wrapped in the black mass just like he would wear the suit in a fight and Venom moved them both to the bathroom.

Eddie protested weakly, but not really trying to regain control just going with whatever Venom wanted to do.

Instead of heading to the shower he aimed them towards the tiny bathtub where he turned on the hot water and released Eddie from his control. Eddie put some bubble bath in for the foam and when the tub was full Venom helped him crawl inside. 

The hot water felt nice against his sore muscles and he felt himself calm down even more. It felt as if the water would wash away all the stress of the past weeks. 

Venom began to play with the foam and Eddie just watched him. The symbiote learned fast that foam was nothing you could eat but that you could form all kind of funny hats and beards with it. 

In the end most of the water spilled because Eddie laughed too hard at the silly expressions that Venom cited from some movies and shows.

When the water was getting colder, they both got up and Venom hurried to grab his bathrobe to wrap Eddie in it. 

They both moved back to bed and this night Venom did not turn on the TV.

Instead, he spent the whole night watching his beautiful Eddie sleep and thought about all the things he could do to make his mess of a host happy.

But right now it seemed nothing would make Eddie more than having Venom back.

**We love you, Eddie. We will never leave you alone again. We promise.**

Venom whispered this well aware that Eddie was probably already sleeping.

Still he mumbled something in his sleep which only Venom could understand.

“I love you too. I will never let anyone take you away or hurt you ever again. Promise.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Epilogue was a huge sappy mess, I hope you liked the fanfiction! Thank you for staying with me until now! 
> 
> It's unbetad because I didn't want to keep you waiting longer! 
> 
> Next up there will be 4 One-Shots following the events of this story but can totally be read as standalone
> 
> Hope you enjoyed it and I'm glad for every comment
> 
>  
> 
> If you want to get in touch with me somewhere else  
> Instagram: EiichiCosplay  
> Twitter: @_Thunderdaddy
> 
> See you next time!
> 
> One question is still open? Who was the chocolate box for? Take your best guess! Will be answered in the sequel.


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